Worlds Apart - Part I
by Miss Lydia
Summary: Zelda meets Slayers! An action-packed fantasy/comedy starring Link and two sorcerers from Earth! Will this unlikely team be able to defeat the evil Ganondorf?
1. Introduction

**Worlds Apart****_  
_**Introduction**  
  
**By: Miss Lydia

Wow. My story is finally online.**  
**I've began writing this story in June of 2000, and it ended up being WAY longer than I EVER intended it to be. However, I'm too proud of it to keep it hidden in the corner of my computer's hard drive forever. It WAS based at ZeldaInfinite.com, but due to some unfortunate circumstances with the site's server, I had to move it here.**  
**Each chapter ranges from 6 to 11 pages long.  
**  
**For the coming weeks, I will slowly upload the story to this page in chapters for your enjoyment.**  
**If you're taking the time to read the whole thing, I LOVE YOU for it, and would love to hear your opinion. E-mail me, please!

...Oh, this IS an introduction, isn't it? Okay, enough of my blabbering. Here's the story's intro.

My two favorite things in the ENTIRE world are **Zelda** and the anime **The Slayers**. Well, I balled those two great things into one great story. Characters from Zelda (plus a few originals) and magic from **The Slayers** put together in an action-packed fantasy comedy. It follows the story of Ocarina of Time for the most part, but lots of events have been changed and LOTS of new twists have been thrown in, so you're not going to be reading anything you've read before, I promise.**  
**Link and Zelda know that Ganondorf will try to attack Hyrule. They knew that when they started gathering the Spiritual Stones. But after two stones were acquired, Ganondorf also acquired an ancient artifact that would greatly amplify his magic power. Link and Zelda know they're going to need help.**  
**Our hero travels the dimensions with the help of the Ocarina of Time, in search of pre-chosen heroes of destiny that can aid him in his quest to defeat Ganondorf before he destroys Hyrule. He ends up on Earth, but who he finds doesn't exactly meet the "hero" description. A hot-headed but spunky girl and her younger, and wiser, brother. Not **quite** what Link was expecting, and they didn't have any powers OR fighting skills! How could they possibly help in the battle?**  
**The question is quickly answered following the trip back through the dimensions to Hyrule. What follows is a chain of adventures and magical battles with beasts and men. It's a fast paced epic fantasy that is sure to hold your attention!

Let's get started, shall we? Enjoy yourself, and don't forget to let me know what you think--!


	2. Chapter 1

**_Worlds Apart  
Part I  
By Miss Lydia_**

**Chapter One**

We all know of the planet Earth and of the people on it. That story does not need to be told today.

There is also a land far away, clear in another dimension, called the kingdom of Hyrule. It's a mythical world where sorcery and fencing reign.

This is a story of the two completely different worlds colliding. The story of two people of destiny from the two worlds working to achieve a similar goal. A story of sorcery and the blade fighting together. A story....Oh geez, I'm really saying too much. I know what you're thinking: "Just start the story already, you fool.". Okay, then, here I go.

"Long ago, in a far off land...." No...wait.....that's the oldest starting line in the book. Let me try again.

***

"Hey Mooooooommmmm!!! Is dinner ready YET?"

"Yes, yes, it's coming! Be patient. Go get your brother!"

"What are we eating today?"

"Roast beef and rice."

"All right!!"

The little girl with long brown hair bolted out of the kitchen with a growling stomach to fetch her brother from upstairs. She was quite short for her age of ten years, and never had to worry about bumping her head on the low stairway ceiling of their small house in Michigan, although she _did_ trip going up a lot.

"Hey Gordon," she called after tripping on the top step, "the food's ready! Come eat!"

Her little brother Gordon, six years old and also small for his age, ran out of his room, nearly running the girl over to get downstairs for first dibs on the roast beef.

"Hey! No! I get the food first! I'm older!", the girl yelled after him as she gave chase down the staircase.

The two made their way back to the kitchen, each grabbing the other's clothing in an attempt to get there first. Gordon almost made it, but then the girl grabbed his shoulders, shoved him to the floor, and jumped in first.

"Yes! Victory! Who's number one?" the girl cheered as she bounced about, clearly happy about winning the race.

The mother of the two, Diane, spoke up immediately. "Honestly, Lydia, you're ten years old. Don't you have better manners than that?"

Gordon began to get up.

"Sorry, Mom," Lydia said as she used her foot to push Gordon back down, "I guess I'm kinda selfish when it comes to food."

"As I said, don't you have better manners?" Diane replied.

Lydia made a face, then made a run for the dinner table, but Gordon beat her there.

"NOW look who's number one!" Gordon said with an ear-to-ear smile. He had a cute little pumpkin face when he smiled like that.

Just then, the man of the house came in.

"Hi Greg," Diane said.

"Hi Daddy!", the two kids said.

Once everyone was calmed down and sitting at the table, Diane passed the food around.

"How was school, kids?" Greg asked.

"Imth wmus jumth phmine." Lydia replied.

"Swallow your food."

Lydia finished chewing and repeated herself. "It was just fine. But it's all so BORING. I haven't had any real excitement in my life for some time now. It's the same old thing everyday. Get up, go to school, come home, do my homew.......Uh oh! I forgot to do my homework!"

With that she got up and ran upstairs, taking her beef with her.

***

It was nearly 7:00 as the sun started to show over the eastern horizon of Hyrule. Around 7:05 the sunlight started to make its way into the Kokiri Forest. It took a left at the path and went up the ladder to a small treehouse. Inside sound asleep on the bed was a boy.

The boy was around ten years old with thick blond hair. He was wearing a green Kokori tunic and boots. A little fairy flew into the treehouse, not making a sound. As the sun peeked into the little house the fairy suddenly started flying around, stopping over the sleeping boy.

"Okay, Link, wake-up call! It's morning! Gotta get up!"

Link rolled over and fell out of his bed.

"Ooowww..... geez, Navi, look what you made me do."

"What _I_ made _you_ .....Oh, nevermind. It's morning."

"Yes, but it's so _early_," Link said through a yawn. "Why do I have to get up at this hour? The sun's barely up."

"We have somewhere to go today."

"Where's that?"

"Princess Zelda wants to see you."

"Yeah? Wonder what she wants. She's already told me to gather the spiritual stones. There must be something extra she wants me to take care of."

"Well, you'll never know if you don't get up off the floor and get moving. Hyrule Castle is a half-day's walk from the forest. That's why we're leaving so early."

"Alright then. Let's go."

As Link made his way down the ladder, saw a green haired girl come out of the house next door.

"Good morning, Saria!" he called.

But Saria just gave him an odd look.

"What's the matter?" Link asked.

".......Are you sick or something?" Saria asked him.

"Wha..? Do I look sick?"

"It's barely dawn and you're awake. That's not like you at all. Who are you and where's Link?"

"Har har. Actually, Navi tells me that Princess Zelda wants to see me again, and the castle is a good ways away from the forest."

"Oh! You shouldn't be late for an appointment with the princess of Hyrule! Get going!" Saria said as she pushed Link toward the forest's exit.

"Okay! Alright, I'm leaving! I'm leaving already!"

Link began running to the exit, but stopped suddenly. Turning around, he said "Hey, why are _you_ up so early? You must be the sick one. Or maybe you're just crazy."

As Link ran out of the forest, he dodged a rock Saria threw at him.

Zelda was in the castle courtyard as always, looking at the colorful flowers. She had asked Navi the day before to bring Link to the castle and was beginning to wonder what was taking them so long. She remembered what she had told him the first time he came to the castle. She knew Ganondorf would attack Hyrule, so she asked Link to find the three spiritual stones. He already had one. She wondered if he'd obtained either of the other two yet. She had so far successfully protected the Ocarina of Time, like she was supposed to, and hoped that she could keep it up until Link returned with the three stones.

Zelda heard faint footsteps behind her. "Hello, Link, I'm glad you made it," she said as she turned her head. "I hope the guards didn't give you any trouble."

"Nah," Link replied. "They were as half-dead and unobservant as they always are. What did you need to see me about?"

".......Are you sick or something?"

Link made a face. "Saria asked me the _same_ thing this morning," he said. "So I guess I'll reply the same way. Do I look sick?"

"No, but you're getting right to the point. That's not like you at all. You always dawdle and change the subject."

"Guess I'm just not myself anymore. Anyway, why did you want to see me? If it's about the stones, I've only gotten the Spiritual Stone of Fire. I still need the Water stone."

"That's wonderful, Link, but that's not why I needed to see you."

Raising an eyebrow, Link listened to what the princess had to say.

***

Looking up from her math homework, Lydia had a sudden weird feeling. It was like one of those paranormal and spiritual things she had no belief in whatsoever, like those things you see on _Unsolved Mysteries_. That's why it was weird. She began thinking to herself.

"How odd. I've never had a feeling like this just pop up out of nowhere. A feeling that's telling me.....something's about to happen. I'm about to get that 'real excitement' my life needs. Something big's gonna happen. I just wish I knew what. I'm probably gonna lose sleep over this. No, no I won't. It's just a stupid feeling. Nothing's _really_ gonna happen, girl. Just forget it."

And after dismissing the thought, Lydia got back to working on her long division.

***

"Say what?", Link asked.

"Yes, it's true." Zelda replied.

"No, no, that wasn't a surprised 'say what?'. That was a you've confused me 'say what?'."

"Oh, well, I'll run over it again. Ganondorf has obtained the Sorcerer's Rune, and that's trouble for not only us, but all of Hyrule."

"That's what confused me. What's the Sorcerer's Rune?"

"The Sorcerer's Rune is a sorcery tool. It's a magic amplifier. Simply, what little sorcery Ganondorf currently has will be greatly amplified, making him very powerful and even _more_ dangerous than he was before."

"So that's what you needed to tell me? Okay, point taken. Understood. Filed. But we can defeat him when we get the Triforce right?"

"But what if he finds out what we're up to and attacks before we can obtain the Triforce?"

"We fight him."

"No. I know you're a strong fighter, but we're still young. We'd get creamed."

"Oh. So what should we do?"

"We need someone to give us extra help."

Link raised an eyebrow. "Who would be strong enough to help us if he _does_ attack?"

"I did some research," Zelda replied "and I found an old legend in a book in the library. Do you know what 'Earth' is?"

"Vaguely. I heard it's some remote planet in the middle of nowhere in another dimension."

"Well, 'remote' isn't a way to put it, really. It's a lot bigger and far more populated than Hyrule, but it _is_ in the middle of nowhere."

"Okay, what about this 'Earth'?"

"The legend I found in this book," she said as she took a big book off of it's place on the windowsill, "says that there's a person of destiny on Earth. Someone with special powers hidden deep inside that he does not know about. Powers that need to be awakened. When the powers are awakened, he will become a powerful sorcerer. I'm sure this person can help us."

"Wait, you mean we need to fetch some guy from a legend that probably doesn't even exist from somewhere in another dimension??"

Zelda was flipping through the pages of the book, looking the legend over again. "No....wait....I'm wrong. SHE will become a powerful sorcer_ess_. My mistake."

Link looked surprised. "Not only do we need to fetch some guy from a legend that probably doesn't even exist from somewhere in another dimension, but this person is a GIRL?"

Link received a stiff poke in the ribs for that one. 

"And exactly WHAT is wrong with girls? Huh? Huh?" Zelda asked as she repeatedly poked Link.

"Gah! Stop it! Quit quit quit!" Link yelled through a fit of laughter. "Nothing's wrong with girls! Nothing, okay? I'm just a little surprised, that's all."

"Anyway, yes, there's a GIRL on Earth somewhere that can help us once her powers are awakened."

"Let me guess. That's where I come in."

"Right, Link. That's where you come in."

"I figured."

"I did some more research after I found this legend and tried to find a way to get you to Earth. I even asked my father about it. Both the books and my father say that the royal family's treasure, the Ocarina of Time, can transport the player through dimensions. I found something else in this book that really puts the icing on the cake: the song used for the transportation."

"You mean you found out how to do it AND found the song in the same book? I don't like it. It was too easy."

Zelda rolled her eyes and reached into her bag. Out came a blue ocarina, obviously the Ocarina of Time, and she handed it to Link. She then flipped the pages in her big, dusty book until she came to the song Link needed. 

"Here's the song," she said, "Learn it."

After studying the song for a few minutes, Link looked up. "Okay, no problem. So I just play this song and I'll get transported to Earth? That's all well and good, but how will I know who this person is? You said Earth is highly populated, and I need to find ONE person."

Zelda studied the pages of the legend. "The legend says that the player of the ocarina will be transported very near the person of destiny."

"So I'll just land on this person's doorstep or something? That's also too easy."

Zelda just shrugged. "I honestly don't know. Take Navi with you. I'm sure she can help you find this sorceress."

Link then got up and started heading toward the courtyard's exit. "Okay, I'll go as soon as I prepare. I'll find this sorceress and bring her here to Hyrule faster than you can take off that funny-looking hat you're wearing!"

As Link made his exit, he dodged a rock Zelda threw at him.


	3. Chapter 2

****

**_Worlds Apart  
Part I  
By Miss Lydia_**

**Chapter 2**

"So, Navi, how exactly are we gonna be able to tell who this person is?"

"I'm not sure. I'm still thinking about it."

"Don't strain yourself. It's really too early in the morning to be thinking so hard," Link replied through a yawn.

Navi was fluttering near the doorway of the treehouse while Link was inside examining the Ocarina of Time. It was so simple-looking. He wondered how something so simple-looking was so powerful. "Can this thing really get me all the way to Earth?" Link muttered.

Time passed quietly as the two thought. Navi thought, thought, and thought some more. Link yawned, obviously getting bored.

"I've got it!!" Navi yelled, suddenly breaking the silence.

"What? You've got what?"

"How to find the person of destiny Zelda told us about. The Ocarina of Time has magical power, right?"

"That's what Zelda says anyway. It isn't very magical-looking to me."

"It does, Link, just leave it at that, okay? Anyway, it's only logical to think that the person of destiny's magic power would react to a magical item like that. We'll have to look for a person who reacts to the Ocarina."  
  
"So how do we do that? I'm sure it's more complicated than waving the thing in their face to see if they react."

"Well, of course. Perhaps a song would do the trick. A song with magical power in the notes."

"Like the Song of Time? That one's supposedly connected with the Sacred Realm and the Triforce, right? Maybe this girl's power will react to that."

"You're probably right. It's worth a try. But first, we have to get there. Are you ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready to go if you are. Is there any special place we have to be to do this?"

"I'm not the one to ask, Link, but I doubt we need to be anywhere special to transport to Earth. We can probably do it from right here in the house."

"Well, then, come here and we'll give it a try."

Navi fluttered out of the doorway, stopping over Link's head. Link picked up a small knapsack off the table and tied it to his belt. Looking at the Ocarina, he tried to remember the notes of the song Zelda showed him. They wouldn't get anywhere without that song. Just when Navi was about to ask what the problem was, Link remembered the song.

Taking a deep breath, Link began to play the song. A slow, beautiful melody flowed from the Ocarina of Time as a glowing light began to rise from the floor. Link opened one eye and watched the light rise and surround him and Navi. When he finished playing the song, Link slowly began to rise in the air. He and the little fairy disappeared in the bright light, leaving Hyrule behind.

".....I wonder who she is...." he thought.

***

"You are the one. The chosen one of destiny."

Lydia snapped alert, finding herself surrounded by nothing but blank darkness. "Who's that? Who just spoke? Who's there?"

The distant voice spoke again. "You are the one."

"What? What do you mean? And where in heck am I?"

"The day of destiny is near, chosen one. Prepare yourself."

"The day of destiny?"

The voice slowly faded into the distance as it said "Don't worry, chosen one. You will accomplish your goal. Just believe in yourself."

"Hey! Hey! Come back here! What does this MEAN?"

A horribly harsh beeping sound suddenly erupted through the blank darkness Lydia had found herself in. She closed her eyes and covered her ears trying to block it out. She saw light as she opened her eyes again.

In this light she recognized her ceiling fan and bedroom window. But the harsh beeping sound was still going. Lydia looked over to see that her alarm clock was going off. As she turned it off she realized that it was all a dream.

"Well, that beeping is explained – just my alarm clock making a fuss. But....the chosen one? Day of destiny? What an odd dream. I swear I'm going nuts. That's it. No more of Mom's roast beef before bed."

After pulling on some clothes, Lydia decided to forget all about the dream. "Trying to figure something as weird as that out will just make my life complicated. I'm only ten, I don't need complication at this point in my life" she said to herself as she ran down the stairs.

"I'm hungry! Moommm! Is breakfast ready?"

"Yes, yes! Sit at the table."

Gordon was already at the table ready to eat. "So who beat who, today, huh?" Gordon said, looking very proud of himself for being first at the table.

"Ah, shut up. I'll beat you to dinner."

"Yeah, sure."

Lydia sat down next to him and wondered if she should tell him about that weird dream. She decided to and went ahead, telling Gordon every last detail of the dream. She told him all about the darkness and the voice she heard. As she finished, she looked up to see Gordon eyeing her and giving her an odd look.

"You think I'm crazy, don't you?" Lydia asked.

"I already know you're crazy," Gordon replied, "but that's not why."

"Why are you looking at me so funny, then?"

"Because I had the same dream two nights ago."

After breakfast, Lydia decided to go outside for a while. Ever since the Power Rangers show hit the TV stations, she almost never played outside anymore. Besides, she felt like getting some time to herself for once. Gordon was inside watching TV and their parents had left to go shopping. This was the perfect chance. She needed to think about that dream, and why Gordon had the same one.

The first thing she noticed was the vivid blue color of the sky that day. "I love blue skies. They make me feel so happy," she said to herself. She got comfortable in the grass and began to watch the clouds pass by overhead.

That didn't last long, however, because something suddenly appeared in the sky. It was a golden...thing...that looked like three triangles connected to each other. 

"Wha....what in the heck is THAT? Could it be a UFO? No! No, girl, you don't believe in that stuff, remember?"

She suddenly changed her beliefs as soon as a blue light dropped out of the center of the triangle formation and began heading her way.

***

As he came out of the light, Link glanced around the foreign world.

"Is this it? Did we make it?"

"Looks like it. I don't think we're in Hyrule anymore, Link." Navi replied.

The two were dropping from the sky surrounded by a blue light, heading for the ground of this new world Zelda had called Earth. At least, Link _hoped_ that's where they had ended up. They seemed to be heading toward a cute little blue house that caught Link's eye. It looked like the type of house he'd only seen in storybooks. It was so peaceful and happy-looking.

"What a good way to start an adventure like this," Link said as they neared the ground, "A smooth journey through dimensions that looks like it's gonna end with a soft landing at some pretty house."

The blue light suddenly disappeared and Link plummeted the last ten or so feet to the ground below.

Link winced in pain and opened his eyes. "So much for my soft landing....although...it _was_ a lot softer than I expected it to be, falling that fast. How weird."

A voice suddenly rang out from under him. "Owww! Get OFF me!!" it yelled.

Link jumped up quickly after realizing he had landed on someone. "Oh, geez, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" Link said as he helped the person up.

Groaning, the human pillow looked up at him. It was a brown haired girl with green eyes.

"I'm really, really, _really_ sorry about landing on you like that."

"I've heard lots of UFO stories, but never any of you aliens landing ON somebody."

"Alien? Me? No, no, I'm no alien."

"Sure you are, you pointy-eared weirdo. You dropped from the sky from some Triangle Trio surrounded by a blue light. That's alien activity if I've ever seen it."

Link decided that this girl wasn't going to listen to him. "Fine. Believe what you want to believe then. I'm not an alien though. I'm from Hyrule."

"Where's that planet?"

Link rolled his eyes. "_Look _here. I'm _not_, I repeat, _NOT_ an alien, okay?"

"Okay, okay, Long Ears. You're not an alien."

"My name isn't Long Ears, either. My name is Link."

"Link, huh? Okay then, Link. My name is Lydia."

"Nice to meet you," Link said through a smile as he held his hand out.

Lydia cautiously shook the stranger's hand. "Can I at least get an explanation, Link?"

"Before I give that explanation, I'd like to confirm something. Is this the land called Earth?"

Instead of answering Link's question, Lydia suddenly stiffened. "Oh my God, Link, don't move!"

Link stiffened too. "What?? What is it?"

"There's a gigantic bug near your shoulder, bigger than any bug I've ever seen in my whole life! Don't worry, I'll get it," Lydia replied as she crept closer so swat the big bug.

Link suddenly realized what she was talking about and retreated. "No, wait! That's no bug! Don't swat it!"

Lydia backed off, still staring at the creature. "It really _looks_ like a bug. What is it?"

"Her name is Navi. She's my fairy."

Navi finally spoke up. "Hi there, I'm Navi. It's nice to meet you."

"OHMYGOD the bug just SPOKE!" Lydia yelled as she jumped back a good three feet.

Link shook his head and started laughing. "Hey, could you please answer my question?"

"What was it? I don't remember. I was too busy looking at the bug to hear you, I guess."

"I asked you if this is Earth."

"Of course it is! You really ARE an alien aren't you? An alien who got lost in the wrong galaxy and you've come here asking for directions, right?"

"Great! We _did_ make it, Navi! The song worked!"

"Right, Link! Good job! First try, too. I'm impressed." Navi said.

"'Scuse me, Link, just WHAT are you and the giant bug talking about?" Lydia asked.

Link glanced at Lydia. "Hmmm....listen, I have to go talk with Navi for a few minutes, okay?" he said to her.

"Um...yeah, sure," she replied

"Come here a minute," Link said to Navi.

The two walked to the other end of the house and Link knelt down by a bush. He glanced at Lydia again to make sure she was still where they left her. She was, although she was staring at their hiding place suspiciously.

"What is it, Link?" Navi asked.

"I really don't think we should tell this girl much. I mean, it's very, very obvious she isn't going to shut up until she gets _some_ kind of explanation. But I think it's very unlikely that this weird girl is the person of destiny we need. We shouldn't tell her too much about us or she'll just raise a fuss."

"I agree, but I have a weird feeling nagging me. We should test every girl we run into."  
  
"Test? You mean with the Song of Time? You wanna bother testing THAT girl?"

"We should test everybody, Link. She should be near here somewhere, like Zelda said. We just have to look at every girl, including her, as odd as she may be."

"All right, all right."

Link stood up and walked back to Lydia, who was growing impatient.

"Um, Link?" Lydia began, "I was thinking while you were over there talking to your bug. I'm sorry for being so rude. I'm not usually like this. It's just not everyday that someone falls from the sky and lands on me. Sorry."

Lydia looked at Link, obviously expecting him to say 'I forgive you' or something. Instead, he pulled the Ocarina of Time out of the sack he had with him. Link knew Lydia was curious about it, judging from the way she was looking at it. Without hesitation, Link began to play the Song of Time. The sad, beautiful notes filled the air and surrounded them. When Link finished playing the song, he looked at the girl. Nothing happened.

Link looked at Navi. "See? Told you."

Suddenly there was a bright flash of light. Link quickly looked back at Lydia in time to see a golden symbol appear on her forehead and glow brightly. Lydia's eyes were wide open in surprise as sparkling rays of light shot out of the mark and filled the sky.

"Link! Look!" Navi shouted. "It's the symbol of the Triforce! She's reacting! Lydia is the person of destiny!" 

"I don't believe it! HER?"

"Do you need any more proof, Link? The Triforce wouldn't appear on just anybody."

"Well, I do believe it, but I don't believe it!"

Navi was getting confused.

"Well, when Zelda said we'd land near the person of destiny, she wasn't kidding," Link said. "We landed ON her. …..Hey! Wait! Navi, do you see what I see?? There's light coming out of the house, too!"

Navi looked at Lydia's house. Just as Link said, there were rays of light coming out of the house as well.

While Navi was trying to figure that one out, the light dimmed from around the frightened girl. The blinding light disappeared, but the Triforce mark remained on her head as she shook lightly.

After trying several times, she finally managed to speak a few words. "Wha....wha.....what was.....?" she tried to say.

Link crept up to her. "Are you okay?"

She didn't reply.

Link waved his hand in front of her face, still getting no response. "I think she's in shock or something."

"Wouldn't you be?" Navi replied. "And what about that light that came from the house? It was the same kind of light, wasn't it?"

"Yeah it was." Link said. "I wonder what –"

Link stopped when the front door opened. A boy stumbled out of Lydia's house. Link thought he looked about six or seven years old. He staggered up to them and began to speak, having as much trouble as Lydia did. "Lyd.....Lydia....did you see.....what just....happened....?"

Link couldn't believe his eyes. The boy's forehead also showed the mark of the sacred Triforce.

"Navi, look!" Link said. "Are you seeing this? TWO people reacted! Were there two people of destiny in the legend?"

"I don't think so, but it looks like there are two people with the power we need!" she replied. "Wait until Zelda hears about this."

"First things first though," Link said. "Why don't we get them inside? We need to give Lydia that explanation she wanted."


	4. Chapter 3

****

**_Worlds Apart  
Part I  
By Miss Lydia_****__**

**Chapter 3**

**  
**"That's how it is," Link finished.****

Link slowly looked up, wondering if these two would help him. He was surprised to see that Lydia and Gordon, who had recovered from the reaction quickly, were only staring at him blankly. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Lydia burst out into a huge fit of laughter.

Link couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Wh....what's so funny? I need you two to come with me to Hyrule and help me with one of those Save-The-World things."

"I told you, Link," Navi said, "she's nuts. I can't believe she's the one we're looking for."

Lydia tried hard to speak while laughing. "You want US to come with YOU? And WHERE is it we're going? Hyrale?", she said, and then continued laughing.

"It's called H-Y-R-U-L-E," Link corrected her. "And why do you find it so funny? My homeland's in danger and I'm asking for your help as humbly as I possibly can."

Lydia stopped laughing. "No, Link, don't take it that way. It's not like I don't care that your homeland's in danger or anything." She began to giggle again, barely managing to choke out more words. "It's just that....hee hee....it's such a classic fairy-tale story that I can't believe it!" she said before continuing to laugh.

Gordon slugged her in the shoulder. "You're being mean. This alien needs our help and you're laughing at him."

Link began to mumble to himself about the alien comment.

Lydia stopped laughing again. "You're right. I'm sorry, Link. It's just seems so odd to me. I've never believed in that kind of fantasy stuff. And now I have to go on some mythical quest to save an alien world. It's so weird....but it sounds cool! Let's do it!"

"It's NOT an alien world. How many times have I told you?" Link replied.

"I dunno. I lost count back there somewhere."

"You two are really going to come with me?"

"Sure!" Gordon finally spoke up. "It does sound like fun!"

Lydia's excitement died quickly. "Wait. Let's think logically for a sec, Gord-O. How could we possibly do anything to help? We're just normal kids. Well, yeah, I can probably swing a weapon, and you've got that iron head of yours, but really, that wouldn't be enough."

"You're not quite right," Navi said. "You and your brother have a special power within you that hasn't awakened yet. Why do you think you had that energy reaction?"

Gordon sat down. "Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. That was such a weird feeling!"

"That was your power reacting to the song Link played," Navi continued. "Once we get you two to Hyrule we'll work on bringing that special power out."

Lydia raised an eyebrow and giggled again. "This really _does_ sound like a fairy-tale."

Link shook his head. "This is going to be one heck of a thing. I can already tell. I wonder how long I'll be able to put up with this girl before a few marbles start rolling around upstairs."

***

"Well, are we ready to go?"

Link has his Ocarina at the ready and Lydia and Gordon in front of him. Navi fluttered nearby.

"How are you going to get us to Hyrulia...or whatever?" Lydia asked.

"I can get us to _H-Y-R-U-L-E_ the same way I got myself here...I think." Link answered. "Stand close now."

Link raised his Ocarina and prepared to play. But he stopped and looked at Navi. "Um...Navi? How...are we supposed to get back?"

Gordon raised his eyebrows.

"Well, probably the same way we got here, like you said. It's worth trying that song again." Navi said.

"Okay, if you say so."

"Wait! Wait!" Lydia suddenly said. "We can't just leave our parents with no answers. They'll be home soon. I'll leave them a note."

"Okay, we'll wait here." Gordon said as he watched Lydia run inside.

Link looked at Gordon and asked "....Is your sister always that crazy?"

"Yes." Gordon quickly replied.

***

Lydia fumbled around her mom's desk for a pen. "This is so crazy. I can't believe we're doing this. I mean, I believe everything Link's told us, since I saw him come to this world with my own eyes. How can you miss someone who falls out of the sky and lands on you? Still, it's all so weird."

She found a pen and began to write.

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_You're probably surprised to find that Gordon and I are missing. Don't panic. We've gone to a far away place on a magical quest to save the world. I don't know when we'll be back. We may be gone a few hours, we may be gone a few weeks. I don't know. Don't rent out my room while I'm gone. See you soon!_

_Lydia_

Lydia put the note near the door and headed back outside. "O-kay! Ready to go!" she exclaimed and jumped back in her position next to Gordon.

Link raised the Ocarina, but paused. "Are you _really_ ready this time?"

"Yes." Lydia replied.

Link began to play the Ocarina. The melody surrounded them, followed by the familiar blue light which took him to Earth.

Opening an eye, Link saw that Lydia and Gordon were near panic. It made sense to him. After all, they'd probably never seen magic before. As the three of them rose off the ground, the look of panic on their faces worsened. Link tried really hard not to laugh.

"Oh, my God! This is really happening, isn't it??" Lydia yelled. "How...COOL! Well, here we GO! Off to Hayrule!"

Link didn't bother correcting her as the bright light surrounded them.

***

The three of them landed with a thud. Gordon winced and opened his eyes. Lydia was already on her feet.

"Did we make it?" Gordon asked.

Link tried to answer, but Lydia beat him to it.

"Just look around you, man!" she said. "Does this look at ALL familiar? We're in a whole new world! This is so exciting!"

Gordon looked around. Sure enough, it was totally new. They were in the middle of a huge clearing. He could see a castle far in the distance. The blue sky was just like the one at home.

Link got up, obviously _very_ excited. "This is my home. Welcome to Hyrule, guys!" he said and smiled, obviously proud of himself. "Want the grand tour? First, we're in the middle of Hyrule Field, the biggest area in Hyrule. And over there is--"

Navi showed up out of nowhere. "Wait, Link, there's something more important we have to do first! We have to take them to see Princess Zelda right away."

"Oh yeah. First, we have to go see Princess Zelda, like she says."

"Hmph," Lydia grunted. "Leave it to your bug to ruin the fun."

"Be nice." Gordon said, pinching her leg.

"Don't worry. I'll tour you around after we see her." Link said, still smiling.

"Well, let's go then!" Lydia said, suddenly very enthusiastic.

"Are we there yet?" Lydia groaned.

Link rolled his eyes. "Does it LOOK like we're there yet?"

"This field is so BIG. How can you walk around this place all the time? And I'm _thirsty!_"

"Let the complaining begin…," Gordon sighed. "Why does she always have to do this?"

"We're almost to the market," Link said. "The market is right outside the castle. We'll get some drinks once we're there."

"What's the market like?" Gordon asked.

"Oh, it's one of the most active places in Hyrule," Link replied. "There are lots of people, lots of commotion, too. There are lots of shops and –"

"Shops?" Lydia excitedly interrputed. "As in...mall-like shops?? I love malls! Hurry! Let's go!" And with that she took off running ahead of the boys.

Link looked at Gordon. "You're right. She IS crazy. If she likes to shop, she'll be in for a little disappointment when she gets there."

"She will?" Gordon asked. "How so?"

"Do either of you have any Hyrulean money? I doubt you have any rupees in your pocket."

"Good point. She's not gonna be too happy."

"Yeah, we'd better catch her before she gets mad and kills somebody." Link said, and began running after her.

Gordon worked hard to keep up. "You can already tell she'd get that mad?" Gordon asked him through a smile.

"I'm only assuming. After all, she hasn't exactly taken _anything_ in stride yet."

"Oh, man, am I an idiot."

Lydia was standing in the middle of the market when she realized she didn't have any money. "HOW am I supposed to shop without any money? Where can I get some...?"

She looked around her. The market was just as Link described it – absolutely full of people. It was one of the liveliest places she'd seen in a long time. But it didn't look like there was any place to get free money.

"Geez, you run fast," a voice said from behind her.

Lydia turned around to see Link and Gordon standing there catching their breath.

"No reason for such haste," Link said.

"When Lydia hears 'shop', she could probably run the four-minute-mile." Gordon said. 

"Har har. I can't shop anyway. No money. Hey, what kind of money do you guys use here? Where can I get some?" Lydia asked Link.

"They're called rupees," Link replied, "and you can get them from several places. Sell stuff to people, find them in bushes, and sometimes monsters drop them."

"Sounds complicated, but I guess I'll worry about it later," Lydia said. "Now, how about that princess?"

"That's right," Gordon said, "we still have to see that princess you were talking about."

"Sure!" Lydia exclaimed. "We can't start our mythical quest to save the world until we see this princess of yours! Let's go! To the castle!"

Link glanced at Navi. "I can already see that this quest is going to be very fast-paced with _her_ around."

And with that, the three adventurers set off for Hyrule Castle.

"Wow...it's just like in the storybooks!"

The first thing Lydia did was stand admiring Hyrule Castle. It was very pretty, and it _did_ look like something out of one of her storybooks. 

"Wanna see the inside?" Link asked.

"You bet!" she replied.

"Let's go then."

After walking up the path toward the gate, the trio was abruptly stopped by a guard. "Hold it right there!" he said harshly.

Link stepped forward. "Look," he said," _how_ many times do we have to do this? Will you just let me in this time?"

"Sorry, kid, can't do that. Go home."

Link made a face and backed off. As the kids walked off, Gordon whispered "Well, how do we get in?"

"It's no problem," Link said. "We'll just get in the same way I always get in." He began to climb a vine against the wall of the path. "I just thought maybe, just maybe, that guard would make it easier and just let me in this time, but noooo."

Lydia and Gordon looked at each other and followed Link up the vine.

"We're sneaking in?" Gordon asked. "Won't we get in trouble?"

"Don't worry," Link replied, "We won't even get caught. You'd be surprised how unobservant these guards are."

Down on the ground, Lydia had a large smirk on her face. "I think I'm gonna like this guy," she said to herself.

Zelda sighed. Thoughts raced through her head.

"I wonder how it's going with Link. I hope he was able to get to Earth. I wonder if he found the sorceress. I hope he gets back here soon. Time is running out. I know Ganondorf will attack."

She tended to the flowers in the courtyard as she waited. As boring as it was at times, it was all she did while she waited for Link's return.

She suddenly heard voices behind her.

"Wow! It's even pretty on the inside!"

"Yes, it's very nice. You be sure to tell Zelda. She'll appreciate the comment."

Zelda whipped around. It was Link, and he had a girl with him. She appeared to be about Link's age.

"Link! You're back! And you found the sorceress, too! You're so great! I knew you'd pull it off!" Zelda carried on.

"Thanks, Zelda." Link said. "But there's something extra that wasn't in the legend."

"Yeah? What's that?" Zelda asked as she looked Lydia over.

"Well, I played the Song of Time, and this girl's magic power reacted, and—"

"Oh, good, you found an easy way to find her. And her power reacted? She's got to be the girl from the legend!" Zelda interrupted.

"I'm not done, princess." Link continued. "Yes, the power reacted, but here's the funny thing. The power of _two_ people reacted."

"TWO people?" Zelda asked. "There's power in two people? Who's the other person?"

Zelda looked on as a head popped out from behind Link just then. It was a boy that looked similar to the girl.

"He's the second one," Link said. "This is Gordon. And this is Lydia."

Lydia jumped forward and shook Zelda's hand. "Hiyee! I'm Lydia and you must be Princess Zelda. I'm very happy to meet you and to be here in Hyrule. This is a very nice castle you have here. You wouldn't by any chance want to lend me any money so I could go—"

Link grabbed Lydia by the shoulders and pulled her back. "Whoa, girl! Calm yourself," he said, half laughing. He then turned to Zelda. "Sorry about that, she's just a little hyperactive."

"No really, it's okay," Zelda said. "I'm glad the person of destiny has so much energy. That will come in handy." She walked up to Gordon and said "Hi there. Are you related to her?", and pointed at Lydia.

"Y..Yeah. She's my sister. I'm Gordon. Like Link said, I'm that second person that showed power."

"That's great," Zelda said, "the more help we can get, the better, right?" Zelda straightened and faced the trio. "I suppose I owe you two from Earth a good explanation of everything, so let's get started."

Lydia, Gordon, and Link all sat down on the soft grass. The two people of destiny couldn't wait to hear all the details of their quest.


	5. Chapter 4

**_Worlds Apart  
Part I  
By Miss Lydia_****__**

**Chapter 4**

"Spiritual Stones?"

"Yeah. We think we can defeat Ganondorf if we can get the Triforce. We need the three Spiritual Stones to accomplish that."

"Why?"

"They're a vital key to opening the Door of Time."

"How many do we have?"

"Two. The Kokori's Emerald – the Spiritual Stone of the Forest, and the Goron's Ruby – the Spiritual Stone of Fire. I still need to get the Zora's Sapphire, which is the Spiritual Stone of Water."

Link was busy backing up Zelda's explanation by adding comments of his own, and Gordon was busy asking him questions.

Lydia finally spoke up. "What if this Ganondorf guy attacks before you get it? Then what?"

"That's why we brought you here," Zelda replied. "Your powers can help us if he attacks before we can claim the power of the Triforce."

"Oh, I see. Well, how do we use this power Gordon and I supposedly have?"

"That...I'm not sure of yet."

"That sure is a great way to start our adventure – at a dead end."

"Don't worry," Link said, "we'll figure something out, I'm sure."

"While we wait," Lydia added, "we'd better work on getting that third stone."

"I agree." Gordon concurred.

"I also agree," Zelda said. "We need to get the Triforce as soon as possible. These two are good back up for a just-in-case situation."

"Not without our so-called 'powers' we're not," Lydia muttered.

"Well," Link said as he got up, "I guess I'll head to Zora's Domain and try to get the stone."

Gordon and Lydia jumped up, too. "We're coming!" they said in unison.

Link and Zelda looked at them with surprised looks on their faces.

"Look," Lydia said, "you brought us all the way here, the _least_ we can do is try to help. If you go off on your own and leave us here I know _I'll_ go crazy. So we're coming with you. Besides, you promised me the grand tour!"

"Are you sure?" Zelda asked. "It'll probably be dangerous. Ganondorf is probably on to us by now and will most likely try to stop you from getting the third stone."

"That's all the more reason we should go and give Link some help." Gordon said.

Link looked at Zelda and shrugged his shoulders.

Zelda sighed. "All right," she agreed, "but let me at least give you weapons. You can't go there defenseless. Lydia, what kind of weapon do you want?"

"Umm....," Lydia thought, "I want...a sword! I think I'd be best with a sword. I want one of those thin, lightweight ones that are easy to swing."

Zelda looked at Gordon. "And you?"

"Why give him a weapon?" Lydia asked quickly. "Do you have any _idea_ how much damage he can do with that head of his? He almost put a hole through my bedroom wall once. He _broke_ my dresser drawer!"

Gordon sneered at her. "Very funny. Could I have a flail? You know, the spikey ball and chain?"

Zelda snickered and said, "Maybe one of the soldiers have one small enough for you."

"And I'll take my usual gear," Link said. "We'll have to make a pit-stop at the forest so I can pick up my sword and shield."

"All right," Zelda said, "but first, the weapons. Please follow me." 

Zelda had lead them out of the courtyard and into the castle. Link looked around, admiring the scenery. He'd never actually been _inside_ the castle before. The ceilings were quite high and the walls were decorated. It wasn't long before they reached a room full of various weapons. Zelda wandered away from the group, looking at the various swords.

"I'd love to live in a place like this," Lydia said. "It's so roomy and pretty!"

"Sure beats my treehouse," Link replied.

"Still, there's always something about your home that feels cozy and right."

"Yeah, as small as it may be, there _is_ something kinda cozy about my little treehouse."

Lydia looked over to see Zelda heading back to them. She carried a sword with her.

"Here," she said, "this is what you wanted, right?" She handed the sword to Lydia.

Lydia looked it over. It was just what she wanted. A thin, lightweight sword that looked about three or four feet long. She thought that she could easily do some damage with this thing. She looked up in time to see Zelda hand her brother a flail, like he wanted. She thought about the damage _he_ could do with something like that and a shudder went down her spine and up again. "Yikes. Scary thought."

"Are we ready then?" Link asked.

"Ready as we'll ever be, I guess," Gordon replied as he swung his new toy around a little bit.

"Off to the woods then. I'll tour you two around a little bit on the way."

"And that's the entrance to Zora's River, where we need to go to get the third stone," Link said, "but the forest is farther south. That's where I grew up. We need to go there first to get my gear."

"Is it a pretty forest?" Lydia asked.

"Yeah, it is. But before we go there, I want to warn you of something. Don't go into the Lost Woods by yourself unless you really know it. I learned that the hard way a while back."

"Got it."

The group took a sharp left after walking south a little ways past Zora's River. They soon came to a tunnel that looked like it was made of wood. They went through it and crossed a wooden bridge which led to another tunnel. When that tunnel opened up, they found themselves standing in a "cute little treehouse town", as Lydia would probably describe it. It was inhabited by little kids that looked a lot like Link. 

"My house is over there," Link said, pointing toward the east side.

"It's cute." Gordon said.

"It's my cozy little place." Link replied as he reached the ladder. "You can wait here if you want. Really nothing to see up there."

"Okay, we'll wait."

They watched Link climb the ladder and go inside the house. While they waited, they glanced around the town. Every house was like Link's. It looked like a very peaceful place to grow up. 

"I'm ready!" they heard Link say. "We can go to the river now."

They looked up to see Link coming out of the house, strapping on a sheath around his shoulder as he walked. Over that he hung his wooden shield. In his left hand was a little sword, only a couple feet long, but it looked sturdy enough to really hurt somebody. Lydia watched him slide it in the sheath before climbing back down the ladder.

"Are we ready to go now?" Navi asked.

"I'm ready." Lydia said. 

"Me, too." Gordon said.

"Okay, then," Link said, "let's head for the river."

Lydia loved the river immediately. It was so blue and pretty! Sure not like the almighty Flint River back home, where three-headed fish probably dwelled. There was a path heading up the twisty river, with a couple monsters along the way, but nothing too bad. The three of them got a little practice with their weapons as they traveled along.

At one point they ran into a monster skimming the water. 

"Oh, my God," Lydia said "Just _look_ at that giant spider!"

"Cool!!" Gordon shouted.

"It's called a Tektite. Don't worry, they're not too hard to kill. A couple blows the head will take care of him." Link said as he edged toward it, his sword at the ready. Lydia and Gordon got their weapons ready, just in case. This looked like a very easy situation.

Wrong. Just then the most unusual thing happened. Dozens of Tektites suddenly began jumping out from various places. Gordon could've sworn he saw a couple come out of the walls. Link backed off as more and more appeared. Soon, there were at least fifty of them blocking the path.

"Wh...what the...?" Link stammered. "What's _this_? I've never seen so many!"

"Do you think it's...." Lydia began.

"...Ganondorf?" Gordon finished.

"It must be," Link replied. "Zelda's right. He's on to us. He probably sent these things as little assassins."

Lydia raised her sword. "Can we handle them, or should we run?"

As she finished her sentence, even more Tektites appeared behind them.

"Looks like running is out of the question," Gordon said. "Looks like we have to fight them. Can we really kill this many?"

"I really don't know," Link replied, "but what choice do we have? Let's watch each other's backs, okay?" And with that, Link suddenly charged forward with his sword drawn. "Yaaaaahhhh!!"

"We'd better fight, too," Lydia said, trying to swallow the huge lump in her throat.

"Right," Gordon replied.

They split up and began slashing wildly at the closest Tektite. Lydia sliced one, and Gordon smashed another's head. Link had already killed several. But the Tektites kept coming. The three were knocked back quickly against one of the walls and were quickly surrounded. Link stood near Gordon and Lydia stood several feet away.

Link winced as he held a wound on his upper arm. "There's too many!"

"We can't give up!" Gordon shouted. "We'll definitely be killed if we give up now!"

"You're right, but –"

Suddenly, one of the Tektites jumped at Lydia. He was moving too fast for her to react.

"Look out!!" Link shouted as he ran in toward her.

Lydia screamed in terror as the Tektite closed in. 


	6. Chapter 5

****

**_Worlds Apart  
Part I  
By Miss Lydia_****__**

**Chapter 5**

Before anyone could do anything, there was another bright flash of golden light. Both Link and the flying Tektite where knocked back several feet by the sudden rush of energy. Link looked on as the golden Triforce once again appeared on Lydia's forehead. Her eyes were wide and had a wild look of fury in them. 

"Get back!" she suddenly shouted to the boys.

Link and Gordon moved back as they watched Lydia put both hands to one side and begin to chant something.__

_"Source of all power,  
Crimson fire burning bright!  
Let thy power gather in my hand!"_

She then threw her hands out in front of her toward the group of Tektites.

"**FIREBALL!"**

A swirling fireball appeared in front of her and hurled itself at the Tektites, torching at least half of them. Link couldn't believe what he just saw!

"Navi!" he shouted. "Did you just see...?"

"Yes! Yes!" she replied. "That's the power! That was some sorcery power we just saw!"

Link was about to say something when he noticed another flash of light behind him. He swirled around to see the Triforce reappear on Gordon's head, too. He suddenly held his hands up toward the other half of the Tektite group as if holding a bow and arrow.

"**Flare Arrow!**" he shouted.

A long arrow made of fire shot out and engulfed the some of the other Tektites and they disintigrated on the spot.

"Their powers have awakened!" Navi shouted.

There were still twenty or so Tektites in front of Link. Link got his sword ready, but Lydia suddenly came running and skidded to a stop right in front of him. She held her hands out again with that wild look still in her eyes.

"**Digger Volt!**"

A chain of lighting shot out at the remaining Tektites and destroyed them. 

Link was trying to decide what to say when both Lydia and Gordon fell to the ground exhausted.

"Wha...How...?" Lydia finally managed to say.

"That was incredible!" Navi shouted. "That Tektite scared you so badly that your powers emerged in your panic! And Gordon's power must've reacted to your powers' awakening, and his awakened as well! It was amazing! Adreniline really is something."

Lydia looked up to see Link with an ear-to-ear smile. "You two can sure make a guy feel inadequate. I didn't even have to do anything."

"It....it was so odd!" Lydia said. "There was that light again, and suddenly, I began chanting that spell like I've had it memorized all my life. In fact.....I have several spells memorized that I've never even known of!"

"Me too!" Gordon said. "I suddenly knew some spells and how to cast them, as if I always have!"

"You two have always known those spells, but just didn't know it." Navi said. "The powers awakening brought them out."

"Well, objective number one is completed!" Lydia shouted with enthusiasm as she got up again, still a little shaky. "The powers have been awakened! Let's head for Zora's Domain!" She then playfully slugged Link's arm, and was very surprised to see him wince in pain.

"Oh, geez! Did I hurt you?" she asked.

"It's just a light wound," Link replied. "Some Tektite snuck up behind me, that's all. Lucky shot."

"Let me see that."

Lydia looked at the wound on Link's arm. It wasn't too deep, but still looked painful.

Link was about to pull his arm away when Lydia held her hand a few inches over the cut and began to chant something silently.

_"Healing power, flowing white....."_

A white mist gently flowed from her hand and traveled over the wound. Within a minute the cut was completly healed. Link stared at his arm in amazement.

"Th...Thanks! Another little trick you've learned?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied. 

"I think I know something like that, too." Gordon said.

"I'm sure it'll come in handy later," Lydia said. "Now can we go? We shouldn't be scared of that Ganon-dork anymore! On to Zora's Domain!"

Farther up the river, the group ran into a couple more monsters. Lydia knew Link was feeling pretty useless after the battle back there, so she let him take care of them.

The group finally came to some natural bridges that came before a huge waterfall. There was a plaque near the waterfall on the ground. Link went and stood on it.

"Where do we go now?" Gordon asked.

"Just watch," Link replied. 

Link pulled out his Ocarina of Time and played a short, slow song. Lydia and Gordon stared as the waterfall actually _parted_ its waters for them. Behind it was an open path in the wall.

"I'll bet even we couldn't do that," Gordon whispered.

"It's like the parting of the Red Sea! Kinda neat," Lydia whispered back.

Link put the Ocarina away and looked back at them. "Quick, let's jump in before the waterfall closes again."

The three jumped the little gap into the path and headed in. The waterfall closed up behind them. The path quickly opened up into a place full of blue water. A second waterfall was inside. Skinny silver-colored people with fins where swimming around.

Gordon chuckled. "Reminds me of Sea World."

"This is Zora's Domain. The Zoras live here. We should find the third stone here somewhere," Link said. "We should go talk to King Zora. Come on, this way."

Lydia and Gordon followed Link around a couple of corners and up a set of stairs until King Zora came into view. Lydia saw this guy and fought hard to keep her laughter back. This guy wasn't like the other Zoras. He was as _fat_ as fat probably gets.

Link walked up to the fat king and began to talk to him. Lydia and Gordon stayed near the door. They couldn't hear what Link and the King where saying, but it really didn't matter. They knew Link would take care of everything. Link bowed to the king and walked back toward the door.

"We're in luck," he said. "The King understands our position and will take us to the stone."

"Great!" Gordon shouted.

"But..."

"...But what?"

"The King says it's late and kids like us shouldn't be out and about this time of night. Those are his exact words."

Lydia sighed. "…._Wha-a-a-t? ….That's typical. But I guess he's right. It's was almost dark when we came in here. We should probably find a place where we can crash for the night."_

"The forest will serve the purpose, but it's a long walk from here," Link said, "and skeleton creatures wander the Field at night."

"Nothing my fireball can't handle."

"You're just looking for an excuse to use your magic again."

"Uh-huh, you know it."

"Hey, Lydia," Gordon asked, "there's a better way to use the magic again. Do you know the Ray Wing spell?"

"'Course I do," she replied. "....Oh, I see what you're getting at. Yeah, we can get back to the forest quickly with that. No more walking across that long field."

Link raised an eyebrow. "What's the Ray Wing?"

Lydia looked at him and smiled. "You'll see." She waved at the fat king. "We'll be back tomorrow, kay?"

The group found their way back to the entrance of the domain and jumped back through the waterfall. It _was_ dark, and the moon was already high in the sky.

"Should we go then?" Gordon asked.

"Yup. I'm ready. Ready, Link?" Lydia asked.

"I can't really say," he replied. "I dunno what you're gonna do."

Lydia and Gordon each grabbed one of Link's wrists and held on tight.

"**Ray Wing!**" they both shouted, and jumped off the ground. They didn't land again. Instead, they flew really fast through the air, pulling Link behind them.

"Wow!" Link shouted. "What a great spell!"

"This'll get us back to the forest in no time!" Lydia replied.

After the group touched down in the forest they all climbed up the ladder into Link's treehouse. It was a simple little place. A table, a bed, a window, little trinkets here and there....the basic stuff. 

Navi fluttered around the treehouse. "I guess I'll head to the castle and catch Zelda up on everything," she said. "You get the stone and meet me there, okay?"

"Okay," Link said as he watched Navi flutter out the door and into the night.

Lydia and Gordon put their weapons on the floor near one of the walls. Link pulled a some extra blankets out from under his table. "Gordon and I will camp out on the floor. Lydia, you can sleep on the bed."

"Oooohhhhh no," she replied, "I'm not putting you out like that. _I'll_ sleep on the floor."

"No, you're the girl. You're supposed to sleep on the bed."

"I refuse."

"You get on that bed, girl!"

"No, YOU get on the bed, boy!"

"You take the bed!"

"YOU take the bed!"

"_I'll_ take the bed!" Gordon shouted. He quickly ran between them and jumped on the bed. "If you two are gonna fight about it, you'll _both_ sleep on the floor."

Lydia scowled at Link. "Now look whatcha did."

"Look what _I_ did?"

"Now the kid gets the bed."

"Why is that bad?"

"I wanted to sleep there!"

"Then why in Hyrule didn't you just give up and get on the bed when I said to??"

"You just don't understand how the female mind works. You were supposed to ask me really nicely before I'd give up and sleep on the bed!"

"You know what? You're the craziest girl I've ever known!"

"What did you just say??" Lydia positioned her hands as if she was gonna throw a spell on Link.

Gordon rolled over on the bed. "Would you two just shut up and get some sleep?"

Link and Lydia frowned at each other as they wrapped themselves in the blankets on the floor.

"Pighead," Lydia whispered.

"Stubborn girl," Link whispered back.

"Just be quiet already, or I'll torch you both with a fireball!" Gordon scolded as he whacked both of them with his pillow. "Sheesh…" 


	7. Chapter 6

**_Worlds Apart  
Part I  
By Miss Lydia_****__**

**Chapter 6**

"Oww.....my back really hurts. I'm no good at sleeping on the floor."

"You're such a city girl. I _told_ you to sleep on the bed. You should listen to me next time."

"Quiet, you. No one asked for your opinion."

It was early in the morning. Lydia and Link were arguing already.

"You two just don't know when to quit, do you?" Gordon broke in. "Anyway, do we go to Zora's Domain now?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Link replied. "We have to go get that spiritual stone."

"Not so fast, you three," they heard a voice say.

Link turned around to see that Navi had appeared out of nowhere.

"Hey, Navi," Link said, "I thought we were supposed to meet you at the castle."

"Zelda sent me back here to catch you all before you go after that stone," Navi replied. "She wants the two sorcerers to train themselves first."

"Train?" Lydia asked. "How come? Don't we have a battle of Good vs. Evil to fight?"

"It makes sense," Gordon said. "After all, we're still new at this. We couldn't do too well in a real battle unless we know what we're doing."

Link glanced at Lydia and put his arms behind his head. "I'm starting to think that, even though he's four years younger than you, Gordon's the smarter and more logical one."

Lydia responded by throwing a weak lighting spell at Link's feet, causing him to jump out of the way.

"Stop bickering!" Navi shouted.

".....Sorry." Link and Lydia replied.

"Hyrule's in danger and you two do this? ....Anyway, Zelda wants to talk to you about that training. You three'll have to visit the castle again."

Lydia grinned. "No problem. At least we don't have to walk this time."

Lydia and Gordon grabbed hold of Link's arms again and faced the castle to the north.

"**Ray Wing**!"

"I think Hyrule Field would be the best place to test your spells." Zelda said. "That's the most empty and spacious area."

Lydia shrugged. "That sounds great, but I think I'd _much_ rather test a spell or two on...say...Link's house."

Link reached over and pulled a lock of her hair. She slugged his arm. Gordon shook his head, almost in shame or embarassment.

"Hey, Lyd," Gordon began, "how many spells can you cast? Personally, I think I only know ten or so spells."

Lydia stopped and thought. "Hmm...yeah...me, too, I just realized. The fireball is my strongest. ….._And_ coolest."

"Mine, too. Can we get by with only these that we know?"

"I dunno. I suppose we'll have to get by."

"Ahem," Zelda cut in, "that's another thing I wanted to talk to you two about. You'll never guess what I found in the castle library yesterday."

"A dead frog?" Lydia sarcastically guessed.   
  
Beside her, Link slapped his forehead with the ball of his hand. "Have some respect, stupid!" he whispered harshly.

The princess rolled her eyes. "Try again, Miss Lydia."

"I give up."

"I found a huge spellbook. It's packed with spells from black, white, and shamanist magic."

"Wow, Zelda," Link said, "you sure do seem to find interesting stuff in your library. First the book with the Earth legend, transportation song included, and now a big spell book."

"Anyway," Zelda continued, "I think I should give the book to you two. You two can probably learn tons of spells from it."

"Whoa, Zelda, hold on," Link cut in again, "are you really considering giving something like that to _that _crazy girl?"

Lydia frowned at him.

"She'll probably destroy all of Hyrule with some crazy spell," he added.

Lydia playfully shoved him aside and approached the princess. "A spellbook huh? That would be really, really useful to us, I think," she said. "Could you give it to us now, so we can get started?"

Zelda smiled. "Of course. Follow me to the library."

"Ooh! Gordon, look at this spell! The Damu Brass. I'll bet that one packs a punch."

"But it says it's used mainly to blow holes in walls and stuff."

"You never know when you need to blow away a wall."

Lydia and Gordon were sitting under a tree in a nearby village looking at the spellbook Zelda gave them. It was a very good spellbook, indeed. It listed the name of the spell, what it does, and everything a sorcerer needs to know to learn how to cast it. They could learn a lot of spells from this book.

It was almost too easy, they had thought earlier, but decided to just forget that detail.

Lydia looked up from the dusty, aged pages and glanced around this little town they were in. Link had called it Kakariko Village. It was very small, with cabin-houses scattered around. There was a big windmill on the east side.

"Say, where'd Link go?" Lydia asked.

"Don't worry about him," Gordon replied. "He told us to take our time. He's wandering around chatting with the villagers. Either that or he's causing trouble somewhere. You never know."

Lydia shrugged and looked back in the book. After a minute or two she nudged Gordon and said "Hey, look at this one. The Dug Haut. Looks like a mean spell. Could you imaging getting speared by earth spikes like that?"

"Ouch."

By dusk, Gordon and Lydia had each learned dozens of spells from the book. Both of them could cast spells from all categories of magic, mostly shamanism and black magic.

Both of them still had their noses in the book when they heard a voice above them. "Are you guys done yet?"

They looked up. Link was sitting up on the tree's limb. They had been so busy with the book that they hadn't even realized he'd returned.

"Oh, hi," Lydia said with a smile. "We're doin' great here."

"Yeah!" Gordon said. "I've learned lots of new spells."

"In fact," Lydia continued, "I found a couple in here I want to teach you, Link."

"Me?" Link asked. "But I'm not a sorcerer."

"They're simple spells. They'd help with your swordfighting."

"Well, I can always give it a shot."

Link jumped down from the tree and sat next to Lydia as she flipped the pages in the big book.

"Okay," Lydia said, "here's one."

It took some doing, but Lydia thought she got Link to the point where he could cast both the Astral Vine and the Blade Haut. She wouldn't be sure until tomorrow, though. It took a long time to teach Link the spells. It had gotten dark, so they'd have to wait until tomorrow to test their spells.

Gordon stretched out. "I'm beat. I can't read anymore. Can we go back to the forest now?"

"Nope," Link said "we're not going back there. My house isn't a hotel."

"So.....just _where_ are we gonna crash tonight?" Lydia asked.

"While you two were tinkering around with the hocus-pocus, I talked to a villager who was hanging around by the well. He owns that house right over there."

Link pointed at a house that was quite close to them, against a wall.

"The guy says he's going away on a long trip," Link continued. "I told him our little story, and he says we can sleep at his place while he's away. There's enough beds for all three of us. After that epic bed-battle we had last night, I took that offer up. So we're sleeping here in Kakariko."

Lydia smiled. "Great job, Link!" she shouted as she messed up his hair with her hand.

"Yeah, great!" Gordon said. "Now what we have beds, can we go to sleep?"

Link straightened his hair and said "Yeah, I'm tired myself."

He and Gordon got up and started toward the house. They stopped when they noticed Lydia wasn't following. They looked back to see her still sitting under the tree, with her nose in the book and her eyes wide with interest.

"Hey, what's up?" Gordon asked.

"Oh, my God," was her reply.

"What's wrong?" Link asked as he and Gordon headed back to the tree.

"I just found a killer spell in here. Such a killer that it would probably be dangerous for both Gordon and I to even try to cast it."

Gordon plopped down next to her and glanced in the book. "Let's see....the....Dragon Slave?"

Lydia read from the book. "The Dragon Slave – the most powerful attack spell in black magic."

"Why is it so dangerous for you to cast?" Link asked.

The boys patiently waited for Lydia to finish reading.

She looked up finally and said, "The Dragon Slave is a very high level spell and is extremely powerful. I'm sure Gordon and I are too young to even try this one."

"What can it do?" Gordon asked.

"Let's just say it's strong enough to level a city. It could probably destroy most of Hyrule Field in one shot. That's my guess."

"By Nayru! That _is_ a killer spell." Link said.

Lydia glanced at Gordon. "We'd better not go for this one. This spell takes a LOT of magical energy to perform. Casting it would probably come close to killing us as this point. We're just too young and weak, I'm guessing."

Gordon yawned. "That's all well and good. We'll talk about it in the morning. Can we get some sleep now?"

Lydia closed the book and followed the boys into the house nearby.

I can't sleep, Lydia thought.

She was staring at the ceiling, thinking to herself. She figured that this would be a great time to think about a few things. It was very quiet. No distractions. What a great time for some serious thought.

She quickly changed her mind about that when she heard Link start snoring quietly in the other bed. Irritated, she threw one of her pillows in his direction and rolled over.

I wonder what that Dragon Slave spell is like, she thought. I know I'm probably too weak to perform it....but......

She sat up in bed and grabbed the spellbook of the bedside table. She turned toward the moonlight coming in through the window and flipped through the book until she came to the Dragon Slave.

"Just in case," she said to herself.

As she began to read the Dragon Slave spell, Link started snoring again. She rolled her eyes and threw her other pillow.

"I had the weirdest dream last night," Link said through a yawn. "I kept getting hit by things I couldn't see, like invisible missiles or something. They just kept coming out of nowhere and hitting me."

Lydia thought of the pillows she threw at him every time he started snoring, but decided not to say anything.

Gordon was quite excited this morning. "What say we all head to the field and test our new spells?"

"Sounds good." Lydia replied. "We'll need to try each one we read about last night. There's no need to try them more than once each. We just need to see if we can pull them off."

Link glanced at her and said "Do you think you'll be able to cast all those different spells?"

"Hmph," was her only reply.

"No really, you two read about so many. Do you think you can keep track of them all? It just seems like a whole lot of memorization to me."

"I'm sure I've got them all memorized. I've crammed for social studies tests which are usually pure memorization and have aced them. _You're_ the one I'm worried about."

"I only know two spells. An easy task really. I'll bet you'll forget a spell or two."

"No I won't."  
  
"Yes, you will."

"I'll bet I won't."

"You're on."

The arguing continued as they left the village. Gordon was trailing behind, about ready to throw a spell on them to shut them up. 

***

Lydia nudged Link forward a little. "Go on, give it a try."

"But," Link protested, "I'm not sure I can do it. I'm not a sorcerer."

"You remember the spell, don't you?"

"Well, yeah, but –"

"Then try it."

"But –"

"_Try it!!_"

"Okay, okay!"

Gordon rolled his eyes as Link walked forward. They never quit, he thought.

The three had taken a place in the middle of the field to try their new spells. Lydia had volunteered Link to be first. He was several feet in front and had his sword drawn. He held it in front of him and muttered a spell under his breath. He then held it over his head toward the sky.

"**Astral Vine**!" he shouted.

Nothing happened. Lydia tilted her head in disbelief.

Link turned to look at her. "There. I tried it. Happy now?"

"Try it again," she replied.

Link shrugged and held his sword up again.

"**Astral Vine**!"

Again, nothing happened. Link got frustrated.

"Rats," he said, "What am I doing wrong? Let me see that spell again."

Lydia pulled the spellbook out of her bag and gave it to him. He opened it and flipped the pages.

After a minute or two, he said "Oohhhh....maybe _that's_ it. I messed up somewhere in the middle. Let me take another crack at it."

He gave the book back to Lydia and held up his sword again, determined to make it work this time.

He took a deep breath. "**Astral VINE**!"

This time a bolt of lighting struck the sword and made everyone jump. When Link brought his sword down it had a bright red coating on it.

Gordon smiled. "Great job!" he said. "What's that spell do?"

Link walked up to a boulder and tapped it with the sword. He jumped back as the boulder split into two pieces.

"Whoa-aa!" Lydia shouted. "That was incredible!"

Link happily shot a thumbs-up. "Your turn!"

By the end of the day everybody had gotten skilled with their new spells. Even Link was casting his sword-enhancement spells with eaze. As for Lydia and Gordon, they were now able to cast dozens of spells very well. As the sun began to set, Navi reappeared and circled around the group.

"Oh, hi there," Gordon said.

"Zelda wanted to let you know that as soon as the sorcerers are ready," Navi said, "you all should head for Zora's Domain again."

"So _soon_?" Lydia sighed. "But it's getting late again. Can't it wait until tomorrow?"

"It really shouldn't," Navi replied.

"I really have to agree with Lydia this time," Link said. "We're useless if we're tired."

"I also agree," Gordon said. "We really should wait until tomorrow. Besides, King Zora will just send us home again."

Lydia gave Navi one of those Hey-look-I'm-right-and-you're-wrong looks.

"Oh, fine then. But you still shouldn't.... Just be sure you're up bright and early tomorrow!" Navi shouted as she flew off.

Lydia leaned over and whispered to Link. "Can I throw a Digger Volt at her?"

"Better not," he replied.

"Please? Pretty please?"

"No."


	8. Chapter 7

**_Worlds Apart  
Part I  
By Miss Lydia_****__**

**Chapter 7**

  
Lydia calculated everything in her head. Lots of new spells + none of Link's snoring + a good nights sleep + a blue-skied morning = a great mood! She was indeed in a very good mood, despite Navi's annoying tapping-on-the-window-loudly wake up call. She figured she probably wouldn't even argue with Link today. She told Gordon that and he said "Yeah, fat chance." She thought he was probably right.

As the group got prepared to fly out of Kakariko, Lydia spoke up. "Let's not fly this time," she said. "Let's walk it."

"Why?" Gordon asked. "Flying will be a lot faster."  
  
"But we can't fight any monsters up in the air. That's no fun with all these new powers. Besides, I'd like to actually experience this place, and sometimes you do that by walking in it. Through all the trees, fields, …the sunshine…" Her eyes became more and more starry as she spoke.

Link looked at her. "We really should fly there."

Lydia glared at him. "We're _walking_."

Link threw his hands up in defense. "Okay, okay..."

Gordon rolled his eyes.

The trio headed toward the river. However, monsters weren't the first test of their magic. The group had turned the same corner they had before to get to Zora's River from the field, but this time the path was blocked by huge boulders.

"Wh...what's this?" Link wondered. "Where'd these things come from?"

"They weren't here before, were they?" Lydia asked.

"No...... I'll bet it's Ganondorf trying to stop us again."

"Do you really think so?" Gordon asked. "Why doesn't he just come after us himself instead of sending these stupid road blocks?"

"You have to understand how the twisted mind of a maniac works," Link answered. "He probably figures that coming after us himself is too boring. I'm sure he would rather see us struggle past problem after problem, and _then_ come after us. Hopefully, we'll have the Triforce by then. He's only hurting _himself_ by wasting time."

"First the Tektite army," Lydia said, "and how this."

Gordon crossed his arms. "What'll he think of next? I'll bet he sends a zombie army after us."

"We'll worry about that when it comes!" Lydia said cheerfully. "As for now, I'm gonna blast these boulders out of our way with one shot! Step aside guys."

Lydia moved forward and the boys stepped behind her. She threw her hands in front of her, toward the boulders.

"**Damu Brass!**"

Link and Gordon waited. And waited. And waited, but nothing happened.

Link looked at Lydia. She had a mixed look of disbelief and embarassment on her face. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I...uh...." Lydia stuttered, "I...forgot the words somewhere near the end and was trying to wing it, but it didn't work!"

Link chucked. "You say you _aced_ all those ….social studies…… tests?"

Lydia whirled around toward him. "Shut up, man!" she snapped. "Hmph. So much for my good mood." She reached into her bag and pulled out the big spellbook. As she read through the spell again, she heard a voice behind her.

"**Damu Brass!**"

A large explosion followed. Lydia turned around to see that Gordon had gotten impatient and had taken care of the roadblock himself. She looked back at Link, and then slugged his arm when she saw that he was trying really hard not to laugh at her.

As they continued, Lydia and Gordon chatted amoungst each other as Link walked in silence a few steps in front. Lydia stopped talking abrubtly after she suddenly ran right into Link.

"What's the mat—"

Lydia stopped midsentence when she saw why Link stopped so quickly. The trio was heading right for a pack of nine or ten skinny, flaky zombies blocking the path. They looked like humanoid-shaped muscle masses, and the faces were like skulls. No visible nose, a gaping mouth, and dark holes for eyes.

Link snarled. "Redeads...."

Gordon laughed. "See?" he said. "Told you he'd send zombies next."

Lydia smacked her fist into her hand. "No need for a big fight. I can nail these guys really quick."

"I can stop them for you with my Ocarina," Link said.

Lydia smirked. "No need."

She walked forward toward the ugly, restless souls. They limped toward her slowly. Lydia chanted something as she walked.

_"You pitiful twisted creatures not of this world,  
by the light of purity I posess,  
I bid thee, be gone to the nexus of our two worlds!"_

She shot her fist up in the air.

"**Megido FLARE!**"

A white beam of light appeared around the Redeads. Through it, Link could see them all groaning loudly, obviously in a lot of pain. When the beam of light disappeared, the Redeads disappeared with it.

Lydia whirled around and flashed a V with her fingers. "Victory!"

Farther up the river, the trio ran into monster after monster; nothing that couldn't be finished off with a quick Flare Arrow. It was pretty smooth sailing, even though Link kept complaining about feeling useless. However, he saw his chance to be useful again when a large monster very unusual to the river area jumped them.

"This is new," Gordon said. "What's this thing?" He stared at the monster. It was a giant lizard, at least twice as tall as any of them, and was holding a small dagger.

"It's a Lizalfos," Link replied. "This is definitely Ganondorf's doing."

"Why do you say that?" Lydia asked.

"I've never seen a Lizalfos outside of Death Mountain. They live in hot areas, not at the river."

"It won't be here long!" Lydia shouted and strolled forward.

"No, wait a sec." Link said.

Lydia stopped and turned around. "Whazamatter?"

"You know I hate feeling useless. Let me play with MY new magic for a change."

"Okay, sorry," Lydia said through a smile as she moved away.

The Lizalfos had grown tired of the humans talking and moved toward them with its dagger ready. Link also moved forward with his sword drawn. He glared at the monster with mean eyes.

"You'll be sorry you ever left the mountains, pal," Link scorned, and he threw his blade in the air. "**Blade Haut!**"

He brought the blade down on the ground and a huge tremor wave shot out of it and moved toward the Lizalfos. The lizard ran toward the right, trying to dodge it, but noticed a little too late that the tremor wave had also turned and followed him. The Lizalfos shrieked as it was thrown back into the wall, steaming. 

Link wasted no time. He ran forward holding his sword to his side, going in for the kill. 

"**Astral Vine!**"

The red coating of magic reappeared on the blade, and Link struck the Lizalfos down. The monster disintigrated on the spot.

Lydia scoffed. "I thought warriors weren't supposed to hit an enemy when he's down."

"All's fair when Ganondorf is involved, I guess," her brother replied.

Link only shrugged. "Ganondorf really _is_ playing with us. As threatening as they look, a Lizalfos isn't really tough if you're good with defense. Why isn't he trying any harder?"

Link was thinking so hard that he forgot to keep walking. He hardly noticed Lydia literally pulling him by the arm as they kept going toward the domain.

Something was very wrong in Zora's Domain. That was for sure. The problem was obvious to them the minute the trio set foot in the Domain.

"There's...no water!" Gordon shouted.

Zora's Domain was completely dried up. A place that had once been completely full of water was as dry as a bone. Not only that, there weren't any more Zoras than drops of water in the whole domain.

"The water's gone...and so are the Zoras!" Lydia said. "What happened here?"

Link sighed. "So much for Ganondorf not trying hard to stop us. He knows the Zoras have the last stone."

"Why that…lousy…," Lydia grumbled through clenched teeth.

"Where do you think they all went?" Gordon asked.

"If they're all okay, that is," Lydia added.

"If they _are_ all okay," Link replied, "I think they'd go to the nearest place with a lot of water."

"Where's that?"

"Lake Hylia."

"This is the most beautiful place _yet_!!"

Lydia admired the scene almost immediately. Lake Hylia was indeed beautiful. The water of Lake Hylia was so clear and blue that you could see the bottom, and the grass at the shores was a nice shade of green. To top it off, their Ray Wing spell gave them a spectacular view. There was only one thing ruining the scene, and Lydia's spirits fell when she noticed it.

"I don't see any Zoras...." she said.

After landed on the north side of the lake, Link walked forward and knelt down by the shore, peering into the water.

"You're right," he said, "I don't see any Zoras anywhere."

"What _happened_?" Gordon asked. "What happened to the Zoras?"

Link paused in thought. "Ganondorf," he finally said.

"Huh?" Lydia murmured.

"Why do you think we hit an unusually high number of monsters on our way to the domain this morning? _And_ monsters that aren't supposed to be in that region? Ganondorf was slowing us down. He probably only had to slow us down enough to give himself the time to finish his dirty work at the domain."

"You mean we _just_ missed him?"

"That's _my_ guess."

Lydia immediately started cursing herself. "I'm sorry," she started. "It's my fault. I'm the one who insisted we would walk to Zora's Domain instead of just Ray Winging there. I was selfish and made all of us take the slow way, and now the Zoras are gone."

Gordon shook his head. "No, it wasn't your fault. There was no way of preventing this."

Link stood up. "He's right."

"But," Lydia protested, "if we had just flown there we may have gotten there in time to stop him."

"Stop scolding yourself," Gordon said. "Ganondorf _still_ would've found a way to slow us down if we had flown instead."

"And even _if_ we had gotten there before he was done," Link added, "we couldn't beat him as we are now."

Lydia looked up meekly. "You guys...really aren't mad at me for this?"

Link smiled. "There's no time for that," he said. "We have to find the Zoras and fix the domain."

"But where do we start?" Gordon wondered.

Link's face fell. He shook his head and sighed. "I don't know. I just don't know."

Lydia went to bed that night feeling very guilty. Link had kept telling her that the whole Zora thing wasn't her fault, but she still felt responsible for their disappearance. If only we had just flown there, she kept thinking. I was selfish and made the group walk. Now the Zoras are gone. It's all my fault. All my fault.

As she drifted off to sleep, one thought stayed hard in her mind, as if etched in stone. I'll get to the bottom of this, she thought, and I'll fix it. Whatever did this to the Zoras will pay dearly. _I'll_ see to _that_, definitely. 


	9. Chapter 8

**_Worlds Apart  
Part I  
By Miss Lydia_****__**

**Chapter 8**

  
"Come ON, you guys! Let's go!"

Gordon yawned loudly. "What's with you?" he asked.

"It's never too early to get some stuff done," Lydia replied.

Link rolled over in his bed. "I know you're upset about the Zoras, but could it at _least_ wait until sunrise?"

Lydia frowned. "There's no time for sunrise! We have to go!"

".....We really can't wait until sunrise?"

"Get _up_, Long Ears. Don't make me ask again." 

Link rubbed his eyes as Lydia turned and ran outside. "Be out in five minutes!" she yelled on her way out.

Gordon threw his covers off and looked at Link. "This is so unlike her," he said. "She's always the late sleeper. I mean, she considers 9:00 _early_."

Link yawned. "Yeah, but you have to look at it from a different perspective here," he said. "Do you realize how guilty she feels about the Zoras' disappearance? She obviously wants this problem solved as soon as possible so her conscience can stop chewing on her."

"Yeah, I understand that," Gordon replied, "but _anyone's_ conscience can wait until sunrise."

"The first place we should check out is the domain." Lydia said.

The trio was already in the air on their way south. Lydia was giving the battle commands.

"We'll check out the domain," she continued, "and then look in the surrounding areas."

"Yeah," Link agreed. "Any clue would be useful at this point."

"What do we expect to find?" Gordon asked.

"Who knows?" Link replied. "Footprints, magic trails, whatever. I'm ready to expect the unexpected."

"We'll just do what all those detectives do in the movies," Lydia said. "They always catch the bad guy, after all. And so will we!"

When they touched down on the natural bridges, Link pulled his Ocarina out and reopened the domain. The waterfall parted and they jumped in. The domain was just as they had left it – as dry as the Haunted Wasteland.

"Hey," Gordon asked, "when we came here, did we check the whole place for Zoras?"

Link thought for a second. "No," he finally said, "I don't think we did. The whole shock of the water being gone kinda made us move quickly. So we'll split up and look around."

"Okay."

"I'll go this way, Gordon will go that way, and Lydia will go.......," Link stopped midsentence. Lydia wasn't where she had been standing a second ago. He turned around in time to see her shadow retreating up the stairway to King Zora's room. Gordon gave Link a look that pretty much said "_That_ figures", and they ran after her.

When they caught up, she was standing where the fat king had been sitting. "Even the King's gone," she said. "Ganondorf must be pretty powerful to be able to move _that_ guy."

"Good thing he did," Gordon said. "Look there." He pointed in Lydia's direction.

"Hey..." Link said. "I didn't know that was there."

Lydia turned around. There was an opening in the wall behind her. The fat king had been blocking it completely when he was sitting there. "Yeah, I saw that," she said. "I wonder where it goes."

Link thought for a moment. "Maybe it goes to Zora's Fountain," he said. "I've heard that's where all the water in Hyrule comes from, but I've never seen it. It's supposed to be in this area somewhere."

"Only one way to find out," Gordon said. He climbed up to where Lydia was standing and walked through the opening. Lydia and Link followed. It lead through a short tunnel, with light visible at the end. The light was much brighter outside the tunnel.

Link squinted in the sunlight. "This _must_ be Zora's Fountain," he said. "Except..."

They were standing at another lake that was possibly deeper than Lake Hylia. Only it was completely dry. The fountain was basically a huge hole in the ground.

"I see what you mean," Lydia said. "The fountain is dry, too."

"Oh....I get it now," Link said. 

"What?"

"Ganondorf didn't dry up Zora's Domain. He went after Zora's Fountain. Do you remember what I said back there?"

"Um...all the water comes from here?"

"Right. All the water in Hyrule flows from this fountain. If the fountain is dry, there soon won't be a drop of water in the whole kingdom."

"We gotta fix this!" Gordon exclaimed. "We can't let it happen! We need to restore the fountain."

Lydia's spirits fell. "But...how could we possibly do that? I don't think we ever could produce enough water. It...It seems so hopeless."

Link knew exactly what to say. He leaned over to Lydia and said, "Hey, if we don't fix this problem, Lake Hylia will also dry up, you know."

Lydia's eyes widened. She smacked her fist into her palm. "We certainly can't let _that_ happen!" she shouted. "Not to my beautiful Lake Hylia! No SIR! Come on boys, let's get to the bottom of this!" With that, she ran ahead toward the empty fountain.

Gordon turned to Link. "Man, you're good."

Link smiled in triumph.

"I don't see anything!" Gordon shouted.

"Me either!" Lydia shouted back.

"Same down here!" Link yelled.

Gordon and Lydia were flying around the west side of the fountain looking for anything unusual, besides the huge dry hole. Link was at the bottom of the empty fountain, also looking for anything weird.

As Link made his way back out, Lydia and Gordon landed near the shore. 

"The only unusual thing I see," Gordon started, "is that huge hole in the wall over there."

Lydia looked at the east side of the fountain. There was indeed a gigantic opening in that wall. Very wide, but not very high. 

She looked down at Link, who was still working on climbing out of the fountain. "Hey, Link!" she shouted, and pointed toward the hole. "What's that over there?"

Link looked where she was pointing. He looked back and yelled "I have no idea!"

"Then I guess it's worth checking out. **Ray Wing!**" 

Lydia took off toward the opening, picking up Link on the way. Gordon followed close behind. They landed just inside the opening and cautiously advanced in. 

The environment changed suddenly, and Lydia was naturally the first to complain.

"Oh, my GOD, it is so COLD in here!!!" she yelled as loudly as she could.

Link's wide eyes suddenly darted toward the ceiling. He quickly shoved Lydia aside as a giant icicle dropped where she had been standing.

Lydia scratched the back of her head. "I guess I should be more careful."

Gordon looked at the ceiling. There were dozens of those big icicles all over the place. "Looks like any major thing will jostle them all down," he said. 

"You two had better be careful with those spells," Link said. "Don't use anything too big or we'll get rained on." He glanced at Lydia. "And no more screaming."

Lydia blushed a bit. "Sorry."

The three walked quietly through the cold cave, huddled close together for extra warmth. It was the only place Link could think of that had snow and ice in it. He hated being cold, but this was almost too much.

After about ten minutes of walking, they came to a very large room with a high ceiling. Lydia's quiet complaining ceased as she looked around. It was a very bland, boring, cold room. But there was one thing that caught everyone's eye. There was a red glowing ball hovering at the middle of the ceiling.

Link stared at it. "What the heck is that thing?"

Lydia walked a little closer the middle of the room. "It's magic, whatever it is. And who's the only other character in this land that can use magic besides us?"

"Ganondorf," Gordon said.

"Right. That has to be his doing."

"Should we try and destroy it?"

"No.... We should wait until we're sure of what it is before doing something like that."

Link put his hand on Lydia's shoulder. "How unusually cautious of you," he said. "I'm impressed. I thought for sure you'd throw a fireball."

Lydia smirked. "Har har. Let's keep going."

They left the room with the red ball and went through another chilly tunnel. At the end of this one was another room, about half the size of the last one. At the far end was something that obviously was man-made. It was a wall of tall, thin ice spikes going from wall to wall and to the ceiling of the room. On the other side of it were some familiar faces.

"It's the Zoras!" Link shouted.

"Is that what happened, then?" Lydia asked.

The shivering Zora King looked at her. "Yes, it's all that Gerudo thief's doing. We naturally put up a fight when he worked magic on the fountain. He put us in here to keep us out of the way. We are absolutely freezing, and we need to get to water. We've been dry too long."

"Alright, we're gonna bust you all out of there," Lydia said. "All of you go and stand over on that side."

The Zoras all moved to the left side of the icy cell and Gordon moved to the right side.

"**Damu Brass!**"

The right side of the spike wall was completely blown away, and the Zoras started pouring out.

"Come on," Link said. "Let's lead them out of here before they freeze to death."

The three walked back the way they came. The huge Zora group followed close behind, eager to get to warmer temperatures. They passed through the room with the red ball. The Zoras looked at the ball very curiously. The king tapped Lydia's shoulder.

"Do you know what that is up there?" he asked her.

"Do you?"

"Ganondorf put that there."

"Then I'll bet that's what dried the fountain. We'll have to destroy it."

Link spoke up. "Let's get the Zora's out. First things first."

"Let me test something." Lydia said. 

She was standing near the shore of the empty fountain. Link and Gordon stood near the Zoras, who were busy warming themselves in the sun. She reached out and snapped her fingers.

"**Aqua Create.**"

A column of water suddenly rose up out of nowhere in the empty fountain. When it fell again, there was a puddle in the bottom of the hole. Everyone watched as the puddle dried up again in seconds.

"So that red thing _is_ what dried the fountain," Lydia said. "Okay, then, be right back! **Ray Wing!**"

She flew off, speeding back into the Ice Cavern.

Link crossed his arms. "I wonder what she'll do?"

"She'll probably use a weak spell to shatter the ball. She knows better than to use big spells in there."

As Gordon finished speaking, a huge explosion from inside the cavern shook the ground. Everyone dropped down as thick smoke began to pour out of the entrance and rise into the air.

Link and Gordon stared at the Cavern as they stood up again. The Zoras did the same.

"At least," Gordon said, "I _thought_ she knew better..."

"Do you think she's okay?" Link asked.

"I dunno....."

At that moment, Lydia came flying out through the smoke. She had her arm held up above her, holding a force field over her head. The force field had several large pieces of ice sitting on it. When she landed, she put her hand down and dropped the barrier. What remained of the giant icicles fell and clattered around her. She looked up, her face smoky and dirty from the explosion.

She smiled. "Got it."

Link shook his head. "You're unbelievable."

"Sorry, I had to. Weak spells didn't do anything to it, so I had to go all out."

"You could've gotten yourself hurt."

Lydia shrugged. "Zora's Fountain is a little more important right now," she said. "Besides, it's not like you care."

"I...uh..."

"Speaking of the fountain," Gordon broke in, "If you destroyed that red ball, why isn't anything happening?"

Sure enough, the fountain was still dry. The magic that was keeping it dry was gone, but the fountain stayed dry.

Lydia snapped her fingers. "**Aqua Create.**"

The column of water reappeared and made another puddle in the bottom of the fountain. The puddle stayed this time, but it wasn't enough to save Hyrule from the dryness that was coming.

Lydia cast the spell over and over but still produced very little. "There's no way the fountain can be refilled this way," she said. "I'd need a super magic amplifier to fix it this way. But at least the water isn't disappearing anymore."

"Hyrule will still dry up," Link said urgently, "if we don't find a way to fix the fountain quickly."

"Our magic alone obviously isn't enough to do it," Gordon said. "We'll have to find another way."

Link looked at the Zoras. "Zora's Domain is as dry as a bone," he said to them. "I think you should go to Lake Hylia for now. Since all the water in Hyrule flows there, that's where the last water will be, even if Hyrule dries up."

King Zora stepped foreward. "Thank you all so much for what you've done," he said. "Is there any way we can repay you?"

"Um, no, I don't think that's—".

Lydia excitedly jumped forward. "I know! I know!" she shouted, waving her arm. "You wouldn't happen to have the Spirutal Stone of Water, by any chance, do you? Do ya do ya do ya do ya?"

The fat king chuckled. "What an energetic young lady you are," he said, "Yes, we have it. However, I'm afraid we can't give it to you."

"Why not?" Gordon asked him.

"Please don't get me wrong. We really appreciate your effort to save our lives. But unless Zora's Fountain is restored to its original state, we will die eventually."

"And if we can restore the fountain...?"

"Then I will give you the stone you seek."

Lydia looked at Link. "Looks like we've got yet another big task in front of us."

Link sighed. "I knew it couldn't be this easy."

"…..This was _easy_?" 


	10. Chapter 9

**_Worlds Apart  
Part I  
By Miss Lydia_****__**

**Chapter 9**

"The only thing _I_ can think of," Lydia said, "would be the Sorcerer's Rune."

"Yeah, but there's a small problem with that," Link replied.

"I know, I know. Ganondorf has it."

"Is there anything else besides the rune?"

"I sure can't think of one."

Everybody was relaxing at Lake Hylia. Link and Lydia were sitting on the shore talking. Gordon was off talking to one of the Zoras.

Link shook his head. "There _has_ to be something else we can do," he said quietly, resting his chin in his hand.

"I dunno," Lydia sighed. "We need lots of power. That much is clear."

Link lowered his head and thought hard. Lydia looked up at the crisp, blue sky. It's so beautiful, she thought. If we don't do something, this blue sky won't be hanging around long. This land is so pretty; we can't let it be destroyed.

"I've got it!" Link suddenly shouted.

Lydia jumped a little in surprise. "What? An idea?"

"Yup!"

"Beginner's luck."

"Oh, be quiet. …I think we should go see Zelda. She knows everything. She'll have an idea, I'm sure."

"Well, it's a start," Lydia said, and got up. 

"We should go now."

Lydia turned to Gordon and waved. "Hey kid!" she shouted. "We're leaving!"

Gordon said good bye to the Zora and joined the two at the shore. Lydia grabbed Link's arm.

"**Ray Wing!**"

"Hey, Link, do you know what the Sorcerer's Rune looks like?" Lydia asked.

Link brushed his hair out of his eyes with his free arm. "Zelda told me a while back," he replied as the wind continued playing with his hair. "It's an odd-looking rune, actually. It's a rectangular shape, only about 3 inches long, and is bright red. ....Or is it bright blue? ....Or.."

"Forget the color."

"Why do you want to know what the rune looks like?"

"That's kind of a dumb question, Link. So I know it when I see it, of course."

Gordon flew up next to Lydia and looked at her. "Are you going to try to _steal_ it from Ganondorf?"

"Say what? No! Are you out of your _mind_? Do you honestly think I'm _that_ crazy?" 

"Yes."

"Quiet, you. Just keep flying."

"Something is very wrong here," Lydia said.

"Where is everyone?" Link wondered.

"The square is completly empty," Gordon said.

They were standing in the middle of the Market. Only it wasn't full of people as it usually is. It was completly empty and quiet. Lydia almost expected a tumbleweed to roll past any second.

Link wandered away and knocked on a closed door. He was relieved when the door opened and a bearded man peeked out. At least the people were still around.

"What are you doing out there, kid?" the man said. "You wanna disappear, too?"

"Disappear? What do you mean?" Link asked. "Why isn't anyone out here?"

"People here aren't stupid, kid. We're not going out there. Not after what happened."

"What happened to make everyone afraid?"

"Earlier today, Princess Zelda vanished into thin air."

"Say _what_?"

"Yes, she was visiting the market. She vanished into thin air, right out of the middle of a group of people. Everyone fled for their lives."

"You people are hiding at a time like this? The Princess of Hyrule is in danger!"

"Like I said, we aren't stupid. We're not going out there. We'll disappear too. Now you'd better go home and get indoors. You don't want to end up like the Princess, do you?"

And with no more words, the man slammed the door in Link's face.

Link turned and ran back. "Did you two hear that?"

"Vanished into thin air?" Lydia asked. "That's creepy! What happened to Zelda?"

Link shook his head. "I don't know."

"This whole thing is just getting more and more complicated!" Gordon said. 

Lydia looked up. "We have to move quickly," she said. "Now that Zelda's gone, the stakes have been set higher."

"You think Ganondorf is behind this, don't you?" Link asked her.

"I _know_ Ganondorf is behind this. Has he _not_ been behind anything thus far?"

"True," Gordon said. "But, where do we go from here? Zelda was our only clue. What's our next step?"

"I don't know. I just don't know."

"We have no choice but to worry about it tomorrow," Link said. "The sun's already down."

Lydia sighed. "Yeah.... Let's get some rest. We'll think about where to go in the morning."

***

Lydia raised her hand. "So, who didn't sleep much last night?"

Link and Gordon both raised their hands, too.

"You guys did some thinking, too?"

"Uh huh," Link replied, and lowered his eyes. "I was thinking about what we should do now. I mean, we hit a dead end and were going to ask for Zelda's advice...."

"But now she's gone," Gordon cut in, "and we're still stuck in that dead end, facing the wall."

"I still have no clue what to do," Lydia said. "What is Ganondorf up to? Why did he have to take the princess, if that _is_ what happened to her, that is."

Link's eyes finally left the ground as he said, "We only talked to one person at the Market. We should go back there and talk to everybody. It's not like they're going anywhere."

"I agree," Gordon said. "It's a place to start, anyway."

Lydia shrugged. "Yeah, okay then. Let's get going."

They took off in flight, heading back toward the empty market.

They didn't get too far once the field appeared beneath them.

Lydia snapped alert as weird clouds started swirling overhead. She wasn't the only one who noticed. Both of the boys were staring too, almost in shock.

"What the heck is that?" Lydia said.

"I've....I've never seen such a thing in Hyrule before!" Link replied. "What could that be?"

The clouds swirled closer and closer, becoming darker with every whirl. A blue bolt of lighting shot out dangerously close, knocking Lydia and Gordon out of their Ray Wing spell. After landing hard, everyone staggered to their feet and turned their eyes skyward again.

Lydia stood between the boys as a black ball fell from the clouds, flying quickly toward the ground. It didn't hit the ground. Instead, it started flying toward the group at a high speed only about a foot off the ground. It was moving so fast that nobody could react.

Lydia threw her hand out. "**Rah Ti**—"

She shrieked as something cold grabbed her throat and threw her back a good ten feet. Link and Gordon turned quickly. They were shocked to see that the black ball had been replaced by the figure of a man, and he was holding Lydia five feet off the ground by her neck. Gordon ran forward, but Link grabbed his shirt and pulled him back.

"What?" Gordon shouted at him. "Why'd you stop me? Can't you see what's happening? We gotta help her!"

Link frowned. "He'll kill us if we move."

"What? Who...?"

"That's Ganondorf."

Gordon gasped and looked back. The figure was about six feet tall with red hair and brown skin. His dark eyes stared at Lydia as he continued to hold her in the air. 

Lydia finally opened her eyes and winced. She saw the man that had her and was scared stiff. He had such a terrifying look. She knew who he was right away. How could it not be him, after all? Her gaze left his face when she saw what was on his armor. Something was embedded in his chest armor. It was about three inches long, glowing bright red. 

The Sorcerer's Rune! 

Gordon unhooked his flail from his belt. Link drew his sword as Ganondorf began so speak.

"Is this the best you can do?" he said in a deep, raspy voice. "I went to all that trouble, and this is all you can do? Why don't you fight back, sorceress?

Lydia only gritted her teeth and stared him in the eye. 

Ganondorf slowly turned his head to look at the boys behind him. "Why can't you do anything?" he asked them. "Why are you all so weak? I've expected much more from the 'people of destiny'."

Lydia stared at the Sorcerer's Rune embedded in the man's armor. A million thoughts were running through her head as she stared at it.

"This is so boring," Ganondorf continued. "I went and took that dumb princess girl just to lure you all out, and this is how you deliver?"

Link snarled and stepped forward, still holding his sword up. "Where's Zelda?"

Ganondorf laughed softly. "Only in the most uncertain event of my defeat will you see Zelda again." 

Gordon got his arms in spell-firing position, but Link motioned for him to stop. 

"I'll leave you all for now," Ganondorf continued, "Killing you so quickly would be horribly boring for me. I want you to last long enough to put up a decent fight. I suppose I'll just wait until you can pull that off."

Ganondorf turned his head back to the girl he had in his grip. What he saw was very surprising. Instead of wincing in pain like before, Lydia now had a very odd smirk on her face. Link saw it too, and was just as surprised as Ganondorf.

"What are you smiling at, sorceress?" Ganondorf asked. "Are you showing appreation? Are you glad I'm allowing you to live for now? You should be."

Ganondorf raised his arm and threw Lydia a few feet. She hit the ground hard with her fists tightly clenched. Link wanted to slash Ganondorf to pieces for that, but he didn't dare move.

"The sooner you become stronger, the better. Zelda won't last forever," Ganondorf cackled. 

He vanished in a black light. His laugh echoed in the distance.

Gordon and Link ran over to where Lydia had been thrown. She sat up quickly.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," she assured them, rubbing her sore neck.

"You sure?" Link asked.

"Yeah, I'm alright." The smirk reappeared on her face.

"Hey....what was that smirk for?" Link asked her. "Ganondorf was nearly choking you and you were smiling at him? It makes no sense to me."

"Oh, it doesn't huh?" she replied, still smiling. "Look."

Lydia raised one of her clenched fists and opened it for the boys to see. They couldn't believe it. Something was shining in her palm.

It was the Sorcerer's Rune. 


	11. Chapter 10

**_Worlds Apart  
Part I  
By Miss Lydia_**

**Chapter 10**

"I....I thought you said you weren't crazy enough to try that!" Gordon yelled.

"I lied," Lydia replied.

Link was smiling. "Wow, that was a really bold move. Nice job!"

Lydia smiled back. "Listen, though," she said, "we'd better talk about it later. First, we need to get out of here. As soon as Ganondorf notices that the rune's gone, he'll be back, and I guarantee he'll be as mad as a hornet."

"Right. We'll go hide in the forest for now," Link said.

"Do you think he'll notice right away?" Gordon wondered

As the trio took off and flew toward Kokiri Forest at top speed, they heard a loud scream of frustration far in the distance, coming from the north.

"Does that answer your question?" Lydia asked. "Hurry, we gotta get out of here!"

"You mean you were _planning_ to do that?" Link asked loudly. "You really _are_ a crazy girl."

Lydia leaned against the wall of the treehouse. "Yup. That's why I wanted to know what the rune looked like," she said. She looked at the Sorcerer's Rune, still glowing in her palm. "The plan worked quite well."

"A plan? You actually had a _plan_? That's unusual."

Lydia glared at Link. "Yes, Long Ears, an actual plan. Why do you think I didn't just grab his arm and shove a Digger Volt down his throat?"

"You wanted him to drop his guard, I'll bet," Gordon said.

"Right. I made him think I was a weakling, and that I wouldn't try to fight back. In any other situation, I would have. But I was hoping he wouldn't give me his full attention."

"And when he turned around to talk to _us_..." Link began.

"That was my chance to grab the rune," Lydia finished. "Right. Actually, to be honest, I didn't think my little plan would work that well."

"Well, it did, and that's what's important."

"So," Gordon asked, "what's our next move?"

"We can defeat Ganondorf if we get the Triforce," Link said.

"And to do that, we need that spiritual stone. I see. So our next move is the fountain?"

"Yup. We need to go there and fix the fountain." Link stood up and turned to Lydia. "So let's get going."

Lydia didn't say anything. She didn't even look up. She was staring oddly at the rune in her hand.

"Um, hello?" Link said. "Are you asleep?"

She still didn't move. She just continued to stare at the rune.

Link got a little frustrated and pulled her hair. "Wake up!"

Lydia snapped alert again. She shook herself off and said, "Oh yeah, sorry. Were you saying something?"

Link rolled his eyes. "We need to go to the fountain, restore it, and get that stone."

"Yeah....right," she replied blankly, and looked at the rune again.

"What's so interesting all of a sudden?" Link asked as he crouched down beside her.

"I'm feeling way too much energy coming out of this thing," she said slowly. "A rune shouldn't have nearly this much power radiating from it."

"Too much power?" Gordon asked. "Do you think he did something to it?"

Lydia half-shrugged. "I'm not....really sure..." she said. "It's almost like extra power has been sealed into it. Maybe...."

"Maybe what?"

"Nothing....just a thought." Lydia turned her head toward Link. "How does that fountain work? Where does all that water come from?"

Link tilted his head a bit. "Magic, I've always assumed. Some kind of magic the goddesses of Hyrule put on it. Din probably did it."

Lydia looked at the rune again. "Hmm...."

"Well," Link said, "we need to move fast. Hyrule's drying up. The only water left is in Lake Hylia, and it's only half full now. Come ON."

Link pulled Lydia out of the house by her arm, and everyone took off for Zora's fountain, flying low so Ganondorf wouldn't see them. The entire trip, Lydia didn't say anything. She was deep in thought the whole time. The only thing her brain was doing aside from deep thought was making sure her arm didn't let go of Link's. She was so deep into her thinking that Gordon even had to warn her about a passing tree so she wouldn't run into it. She barely dodged it, but didn't fly up high enough for poor Link avoid the branches and leaves.

When they finally landed safely at the fountain, Lydia strayed away and stood at the shore of the empty fountain. Link followed, pulling leaves and twigs out of his shirt and hair.

"Thanks for that close-up view of the tree," he said to her sarcastically.

Lydia came out of her thought trance long enough to apologize, then went back into thought again.

Gordon helped Link pull out the leaves as Lydia continued to stare at the rune.

"Link?" she finally said, "would you say that Ganondorf is a powerhound?"

"Yeah, he is. All he wants is power."

Lydia looked up with a proud smile on her face. "Yes! It all comes together!"

"Huh?"

"It all makes sense now!"

"What does?" Gordon asked.

"What's been going on! All of them were bits of pieces of a puzzle, and they all fit together."

"Explanation please?"

"Okay. We may as well have a seat."

Everyone sat down in a circle on the ground.

"This is what I think is happening." Lydia began, poking her open palm with one finger. "Ganondorf wants to take over Hyrule. The only way he can do that is by gaining as much power as possible. He had a lot of power on his own, but he wanted more, so he worked to get the Sorcerer's Rune. Gordon and I came to Hyrule at that point. So he had the rune. It's power could easily enable him to begin to take over Hyrule, but it wasn't enough. He _still_ wanted more power. So he went after the magic power sealed in Zora's Fountain!"

"Oh, I see!" Link said. "We were on our way there, but he didn't want us getting in the way of sucking the power from the fountain. That's why he sent those troops of monsters after us. And when the Zora's put up a fight, he locked them up in the Ice Cavern. He drained all the magic from the fountain, and sealed it in the Sorcerer's Rune."

"And without the magic power," Gordon said, "Zora's Fountain dried up. He took all that magic away and put it in the rune to make it even more powerful. I get it now! His main objective wasn't to just kill the Zoras. That was just a side effect. He just wanted more power!"

"Right!" Lydia shouted, and jumped to her feet, energetic as ever. "All the magic of the fountain is in this little rock we have here. We just have to release that sealed power. The fountain will refill itself, and the abnormal radiation from this rune will stop. Maybe we could even use it to boost our magic power. But first things first....."

She turned around to face the empty fountain. She reared her arm back and heaved the Sorcerer's Rune as far as she could. Link and Gordon stood up to watch as the rune landed in the empty fountain and rolled down to the center. It stopped in the center and sat still.

Link was about to say something when the rune suddenly started glowing bright red. A beam of red light shot up and spread all over the empty fountain. Lydia's eyes brightened as water began to rush into the fountain from absolutely nowhere. Within a minute, the fountain was completely refilled with fresh water. It began to rush down Zora's River, which had dried up completely, and continued it's course through Hyrule.

Lydia jumped in the air. "Yes!"

"Wow!" Link shouted. "I didn't think it'd be that easy!"

Lydia stopped jumping and blushed red. "I...didn't think it would work, actually."

Gordon shook his head. "Leave it to you to try anything. But what about the rune?"

Lydia looked at the fountain. "Oh, yeah," she said. "Almost forgot. Let me try something."

She held her hand out straight and began concentrating hard. A faint glow could be seen from the bottom of the fountain. Suddenly, the Sorcerer's Rune shot out of the fountain like a bullet and landed hard in Lydia's right hand. She winced and quickly tossed the rune into her other hand.

"Owww...!" she complained as she shook her hand. "That really hurt..."

"So I guess the rune is yours." Gordon said. He looked at the stone in Lydia's left hand. It was no longer glowing red. "It must be at it's normal magic level, now that the extra power has been put back into the fountain. You can probably even use it."

Lydia nursed her sore hand. "If owning a rune is always this painful," she said, "I don't want it."

"Hey!" Link said. "We have to go see the Zoras fast! We need that stone! Come on!"

Lydia nodded and grabbed his arm. "**Ray Wing!**"

Lake Hylia came into sight. Gordon was pleased to see the Zoras, who were standing in a group, waiting for them. Lydia was pleased to see that the lake was slowly refilling to its normal depth. Link was pleased that Lydia hadn't dragged him through another tree on their way there.

They landed in front of King Zora and he spoke immediately. "It's very obvious that you've restored the fountain. I don't think the people of Hyrule could ever thank you enough."

Link looked up at him. "I'd say we'd have to give most of the credit to Lydia over there," he said. Lydia looked at him. "She did it pretty much by herself."

"No, that's not true," said Lydia. "If you and Gordon hadn't been there to distract Ganondorf, I never would've gotten the chance to get the rune from him."

King Zora's little eyes widened slightly. "You actually were able to steal the Sorcerer's Rune from Ganondorf?"

"Uh-huh," Link replied. "That's where the magic from the fountain went. We put the magic back and the fountain refilled itself."

"Well, isn't that commendable!" King Zora laughed. "Then I guess there's only one thing for us to do now. As I promised, I'll give this to you."

Link stepped forward smiling. The King pulled out a shiny, blue stone. It was the Spiritual Stone of Water. Link took it and held it up. The sun shone through it, making it look like it glowed.

"All right!" Link shouted and held a fist up in the air. "Now we can get the Triforce and stop Ganondorf for good!"

"Great!" Lydia shouted. "Where do we go now?"

Link lowered his fist. "Zelda once told me that the entrance to the Sacred Realm is in the Temple of Time, near the castle," he said. "That's our next stop!"

"O-kay!" Gordon said. "Let's go!"

"**Ray Wing!**"

They turned and waved good-bye to the Zoras, who were heading back to Zora's Domain. Everyone was feeling very confident now. The tables seemed to have turned in their favor. They had the third stone, _and_ the Sorcerer's Rune. 

"We pretty much have this one in the bag!" Link said as they neared the center of Hyrule Field. "There's no way Ganondorf can stop us now!"

A dark, booming voice spoke suddenly. "Don't count your chickens before they hatch, boy."

Lydia recognized it. It was Ganondorf's voice. The familiar dark, swirling clouds appeared. The trio landed this time to avoid being knocked out of the sky.

"Oh...crap...." Lydia muttered.

The black ball fell out of the sky and swooped toward them. They'd all seen that trick already, so they were able to jump aside and let it pass by harmlessly this time.

Everyone turned and drew their weapons as the black ball took the shape of the six-foot man. Ganondorf materialized in front of them with a mean snarl molded on his face. His eyes were glowing red.

"I underestimated you..." he said slowly. "I commend you for obtaining the rune from me. However, in doing so you've assured your own deaths. I have decided not to wait. I will kill you all now." Magic power began to rise from the ground and swirl around Ganondorf.

Link raised his sword. "We're not as weak as you may make us out to be!"

Gordon stared at Ganondorf as the power around him continued to rise. "You can't kill us that easily!"

Lydia smirked. "You are going to find out that we're more than flies buzzing around your plans, mucking them up," she shouted. 

"You won't destroy Hyrule!" Link yelled. "We won't let you!"

With that, all three charged at Ganondorf, ready to attack. 


	12. Chapter 11

**_Worlds Apart  
Part I  
By Miss Lydia_****__**

**Chapter 11**

Link brought his sword down hard. "**Blade Haut!!**"

The tremor wave rushed toward Ganondorf, but bounced off the energy that was surrounding him and disappeared. 

"_Wind which blows across eternity, gather in my hands and become my strength!_ **Bram Gush!**" The arrow of wind flew at top speed, but again, the spell was dispelled by Ganondorf's energy.

Gordon threw his hands out. "**Dark Claw!**" The spell flew at Ganondorf and was yet _again_ dispelled.

"Crap!" Link shouted. "Nothing's working!"

"He's gathering his strength!" Lydia said. "Get ready, he's gonna attack!"

And attack he did. The energy field around him fell at last and he threw a ball of energy at them that resembled a fireball. Gordon jumped out in front.

"**Balus Wall!**"

The force field appeared, and the fireball Ganondorf threw bounced off in two directions. When Gordon dropped the barrier, Lydia wasted no time. "**Dug Haut!**"

The stone spikes shot up from all around Ganondorf. He jumped back and forth to avoid being nailed by one. While Lydia's spell distracted him, Gordon prepared another.

"**Disfang!**"

His shadow formed the shape of a dragon. The shadow dragon charged and grabbed the arm of Ganondorf's shadow between its teeth. Ganondorf yelled in pain and grabbed his arm, trying to break free of the spell. 

"**Astral Vine!**" Link ran toward the restrained man with the sword glowing, prepared to deliver a fatal blow. Ganondorf glared at him, jerked his arm free of the shadow dragon, and slammed Link in the stomach with it. Link flew far and landed in a nearby tree.

Lydia ran forward. "Why you lousy son of a.....**Goz Vu Rou!!**" A shadow appeared and charged Ganondorf. He took some more damage, and fired back. Gordon used another Balus Wall to dispell it.

"Gordon!" Lydia yelled. "Keep him busy a second!" She ran off toward the tree Link was in.

Gordon half laughed. "Keep him _busy_, she says!!" Ganondorf fired a shot and Gordon fired back.

Lydia reached the tree and looked up. She could see Link up there hanging over a large branch. He didn't even look awake. "Hey!" she shouted. "Link, are you okay?" 

To her relief, Link stirred in response. Oh, good, she thought. "**Levitation.**"

She floated up, moving from side to side to avoid hitting a branch. When she reached him, Link opened his eyes and looked at her. 

"I hate trees," he said weakly. "If I ever end up in another tree, I'll kill somebody."

Lydia chuckled a bit and began to help him down from the tree. Suddenly, there was an explosion below them, and the tree fell to the ground. Lydia hung in the air, hanging on to Link by the arm. She looked back to the battle. Ganondorf was facing their direction. He had used one of his spells to blow the tree down. Gordon attacked him again as Lydia flew back. Ganondorf easily repelled Gordon's attack and shot back, this time taking Gordon to the ground.

Link pointed his sword at the ground. "**Blade Haut!**" The tremor fell from the air, and when it hit the ground it began to rush toward Ganondorf. He jumped to the side, but the tremor followed and hit him. He fell to his knees.

Lydia swooped low to the ground and Link let go of her arm. When he landed, he broke into a run. "**Astral Vine!**" He rushed up to the fallen man and delivered several blows before Ganondorf recovered. He blasted Link with a spell, who went flying again, then slowly got to his feet.

"Enough of this child's play," he said slowly.

"Geez," Link muttered as Gordon helped him up, "after all we've done to him, he still doesn't look too hurt."

"But he _is_ hurt," Lydia said. "We can hurt him. We just need to keep this up."

"No need for that," Ganondorf said. "I said I will kill you all. And kill you I shall. Your time has run out."

With that, he raised both of his arms over his head and began to charge up some kind of spell.

"What's he doing?" Gordon wondered.

"Uh oh!" Lydia shouted. "That's a heavy-duty spell, whatever it is!"

The ball of energy kept growing and gaining more power.

"A spell that powerful will not only kill us, but it will probably destroy part of Hyrule in the process!" she continued. "We need to stop him before he can fire it!"

"What can we do?" Link asked, slight panic surfacing in his voice.

That's a good question, Lydia thought. What do I do? What do I do? He'll destroy us _and_ a good chunk of Hyrule with that spell if we don't do something. There's only one way I can see to stop him at this point....but...

Ganondorf's spell grew in power with every second. The wind around them picked up and swirled. His evil laughter echoed in all directions.

That's it, Lydia thought. I'm going to do it!

"Gordon!" she shouted. "Take Link and get as far away as you can!"

"Why?" Gordon asked. "What about you?"

"Just _go_!"

"Wait a second," Link said, "what are you doing??"

"GO!"

Gordon obeyed after another moment of hesitation. He grabbed Link's arm. "**Ray Wing!**" They flew high and hovered overhead.

"What is she _doing_?" Link asked, clinging to Gordon's waist.

"I have no idea," Gordon replied. "I at least hope _she_ knows what she's doing."

Back on the ground, Ganondorf continued to charge his spell. "So, what now sorceress?" he laughed. "All out of tricks? I'll destroy you now!"

Lydia smirked at him. "_Oh_, no," she said. "We said we wouldn't let you destroy Hyrule. And we won't."

Ganondorf narrowed his eyes and continued working on his spell. He didn't even listen as Lydia began chanting a spell of her own.

_"Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows.  
Buried in the stream of time is where your power grows."_

"Hey, Gordon!" Link shouted. "What's that spell?" He looked up at Gordon in time to see a look of utter shock appear. 

"How...how can she be doing this?" he shouted.

"What? What's she doing??"  
  
"That's the Dragon Slave!"

"_What_??"

_"I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand,  
Before the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hand."_

"How does she know that spell??" Gordon shouted. 

"Didn't she say casting that spell would probably kill her??"

"Yes! She can't live through that spell!"

_"Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed  
By the power you and I possess!!"_

"NO!! Stop!" Link yelled to Lydia below.

"There's no stopping her now!" Gordon shouted at him. "We have to get out of here!" He flew higher yet to escape what was coming.

Just as Ganondorf finished casting his spell, he looked at the sorceress. He was about to throw his big spell when –

_"**DRAGON....SLAVE!!!**"_

What followed was utter chaos. Link had never seen an explosion so big. He and Gordon were blown back even more by the enormous amount of energy. Link figured that an explosion that large would probably destroy half of Hyrule Field, but he didn't care at the moment. He was more concerned that Lydia was down there killing herself to do this.

Lydia concentrated hard to keep the spell going. It was taking every shred of willpower she had within her to keep the Dragon Slave under control. Staring ahead, she saw that Ganondorf had taken a direct hit. He was in the middle of the explosion screaming in shrill pain. Even if this spell kills me, Lydia thought, I _have_ to take Ganondorf with me! I have to destroy him!

Ganondorf's screaming echoed and gradually stopped completely. Lydia slowly let the Dragon Slave die off and vanish. She fell to the ground with absolutely no energy left. She looked ahead and saw that Ganondorf was gone. There wasn't a trace of him left.

I did it...., she thought.

She quickly was enveloped by darkness, and everything was silenced.

***

It's so dark, Lydia thought. Where is everybody? Why can't I see anything? Why can't I hear anything? Why can't I feel anything?

Feeling gradually returned to Lydia's limbs, one by one. She slowly opened her eyes and light flooded in. She saw two very blurry faces hovering over her. As her vision slowly cleared, the faces appeared to light up, as if in relief.

"She's alive!" one shouted.

"I think she'll be okay!" the other said.

The first face looked down at her. "Hey, crazy girl, are you all right?"

Lydia had absolutely no idea what was going on. How could she be 'all right'?

The first face spoke again. "Can you even hear me?" it said.

Lydia's vision slowly cleared, and she recognized the smiling face speaking to her. It was Link. And the other face belonged to Gordon.

"Are you okay?" Link asked again.

"Where am I?" Lydia groaned.

"Back in your own bed."

"Do you remember what happened?" Gordon asked.

Lydia suddenly remembered. "Wow...," she said. "Did I just survive a Dragon Slave?"

"Well, kinda," Link laughed. "You survived a Dragon Slave _yesterday_."

"Uh? Yesterday?"

"Yeah, you've been out cold for a whole day. We were scared to death you wouldn't live."

"Thanks....but what about...?"

"Ganondorf? He's gone."

"It looks like your Dragon Slave wiped him out completly," Gordon said.

"Not only that," Link said, "but there's a huge crater in the middle of the field. But we'll worry about that later."

Lydia tried to sit up, but Link pushed her back down. "I wiped out the field, too?" she asked.

Link rubbed the back of his head. "Only part of it."

"Ah, geez. Did I toast that ranch, too?

"Lon Lon? Luckily, no. The ranch was just _barely_ out of the spell's range. You only charred up the south wall a bit."

"Hey, what about Zelda?"

Link glanced across the room and smiled. A third face appeared at the side of the bed. This one belonged to Princess Zelda.

"Feeling any better, sorceress of destiny?" Zelda said cheerfully.

Lydia smiled weakly. "Forget me," she said, "I'm just glad to see you. What happened?"

"After Ganondorf was destroyed," Zelda said, "I was released from whatever he had holding me prisoner. I owe you all some thanks for saving me."

After a brief silence, Link spoke up. "So...with Ganondorf out of the picture," he said, "is there anything stopping us from sending Lydia and Gordon back home?"

Lydia propped herself up on her elbows. "What's the hurry?" she asked. "I'm in no big hurry to go home. I love it here."

"Me, too," Gordon said. "Do you wanna get rid of us that soon?"

"No no," Link replied quickly. "I like having you two here. It's just that I know you have lives back on Earth. You've been here a good two weeks. Won't your family miss you?"

"I left a note explaining the situation," Lydia said. "They'll be all right."

"Do you actually think your parents will believe you traveled to another dimension to fight evil?"

Lydia shrugged. "They believed the teacher when she said 'Gordon is such a gifted child'. What a scam THAT was."

Although he usually didn't side with Lydia when insults were being thrown, Link couldn't help but laugh. Gordon flashed his version of the Look of Death, then cleared his throat meaningfully. Lydia reached over and punched his arm playfully.

Zelda giggled. "In other matters," she said, "what about that huge hole in Hyrule Field? We can't just leave it like that."

"I don't think we know any spells that can fix that," Gordon said.

"Yeah…it would take super-high-level white magic," said Lydia, "which we _don't_ have."

"What about the Triforce?" Link suggested. "We have everything we need to get it."

"You got the third stone??" Zelda asked.

Link pulled it out and showed her. "Anyway," he continued, "the one to touch the sacred Triforce gets a wish."

"You think we should wish to the Triforce to repair the field?" Lydia asked.

"It's a plan," Gordon said.

"Yeah, I don't see any other way. After all, Zelda's right. I pretty much destroyed it, so we should fix it."

"We'll go tomorrow," Link said, "after Lydia gets more rest. After the field is fixed, I guess we'll send these two home."

Lydia sat up the rest of the way. "But I'm okay, really. We can go now."  
  
Link pushed her back onto her pillow.

"No really," she said, "I'm okay."

"Yeah, sure," he said. "You nearly killed yourself doing that Dragon Slave. You need rest."

"Link's right, ya know," Gordon said.

Lydia looked at Zelda with big eyes, as if asking for her to tell them that they were wrong. But Zelda only smiled at her. Lydia gave in and rolled over.

"First thing tomorrow," she muttered into her pillow, "we'll go get the Triforce."

By the next day, Lydia was fully recovered and as energetic as always. Everyone had to work hard to keep up with her while on their way to the Temple of Time. She kept running ahead in anticipation, singing "We're gonna get the Tri-Force! We're gonna get the Tri-Force!"

When they finally reached the temple, Lydia's excitement diminished. She looked at the temple dully. "Pretty plain looking," she whispered to herself. 

The inside was just as dull-looking as the outside. At the far end was an alter with three hollows. Lydia looked around. "Well," she said, "I don't see any Triforce here."

Link looked ahead. "Look, Miss Observant," he said, "see that big stone wall right over there? That's the Door of Time. That's why we need these." He held up the three spiritual stones.

"Oohh," Lydia said in awe, "I like that green one! Let me see it!"

She tried to take it, but Link grabbed it away. "No touching," he said, and walked forward toward the altar.

Lydia scoffed. "What? No touching? Do I have cooties or something?"

Link glanced back and shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh fine. Be that way," Lydia groaned as she followed. Zelda and Gordon followed close behind.

Link set the spiritual stones on the altar. He turned to look at Zelda. "Now what?" he asked.

"Play the Song of Time," she replied. "The Ocarina of Time and the three Spiritual Stones will open the Door of Time."

Link pulled out the blue Ocarina of Time and slowly played the Song of Time. The hollow Triforce above the door lit up, shining yellow. The stone wall split down the middle and slid open. A very large room was revealed behind it.

Lydia's spirits re-lifted. "So the Triforce is in there? All right!" She charged up behind the alter and into the room, leaving everyone behind. Link put his Ocarina away as they slowly followed. Lydia's voice boomed out from inside the room. 

"Arggh! There's no Triforce in here!" she yelled.

When they reached the room, Lydia was standing in the entranceway with her hands on her hips. "There's no Triforce in here," she said. "Just some rusted old sword."

Link curiously glanced ahead. The room was very empty and the ceilings were really high. Mounted in the center of the room, in a small pedestal, was a long sword with a blue handle. 

"Hey, wait," Link said. "Zelda? Isn't that...?"

Zelda nodded. "That's the legendary blade."

"The Master Sword??"

"Yes."

"What's the Master Sword?" Gordon asked.

"A very powerful evil-destroying sword," Zelda replied. "Truly legendary. The only one that can pull the sword from the pedestal is the destined Hero of Time."

"Who's the Hero of Time?"

"No one knows."

"A legendary sword?" Lydia squealed. "That sounds so cool! I've got dibs! I saw it first!" With that, she bolted toward the sword at top speed. Link shook his head and followed.

Lydia grabbed the sword's hilt and pulled hard. She pulled in all directions but couldn't make the sword budge. Sweating, she gave up. She could hear Link laughing behind her.

"I guess you're not the Hero of Time, are you, crazy girl?" he laughed.

Lydia whirled around. "Oh, yeah? I wanna see _you_ pull this thing out!"

Just then, Zelda shrieked. Everyone whipped around and saw what scared her. A familiar black magic ball was hovering near the enterance of the room.

Link was shocked. "No! It can't be!"

The black ball took the shape of the familiar six-foot man. Ganondorf was back, and his eyes were glowing a bright red. Magic power surrounded him.

"I thought you killed him!" Gordon yelled.

"I _did_!" Lydia insisted.

"You must have!" Zelda said. "That's why I was released!"

"No...," Link said. "I understand now."

"Huh?"

"Lydia's Dragon Slave didn't kill him. He escaped it. We didn't _really_ defeat him after all. But he released Zelda, just to throw us off, so we'd drop our guard. His plan worked quite well. Now he's got us cornered in here."

"He's really outdone himself this time," Lydia said. "We can't use any big spells in here. It's too crowded. He's got the upper hand now."

Ganondorf chuckled to himself and began to walk forward without speaking. His red eyes glowed even more brilliantly. "Fools….," his low voice grumbled.

Link snarled. "He doesn't quite have the upper hand. We have the Triforce in our reach."

"No we don't!" Lydia shouted. "Do _you_ see any Triforce here? I sure don't! Why do you think he's attacking us _after_ we've opened the Door of Time? He's lost the Sorcerer's Rune, so now _he_ want's the Triforce, too!"

"He just followed us in!" Zelda said. "If he gets the Triforce before we do, he'll destroy Hyrule with its power."

"No he won't! He won't get it! He won't destroy Hyrule!" Link yelled, and without thinking, he sheathed his sword and ran to the Master Sword. The sorcerers were the only things standing between Ganondorf and the Triforce. 

Lydia and Gordon stood ready to attack. Lydia glanced back and saw Link climb up on the Pedestal of Time. "What are you _doing_?" she yelled.

"I won't let him destroy my home!" Link yelled back, and yanked on the Master Sword's handle. "I won't let him!!"

The Master Sword suddenly slid out of the pedestal. A bright blue light shot out of the ground and blew everyone away, leaving Link standing by himself in the middle of the blue column of energy. Still holding the Master Sword, he vanished into thin air.

"_Link!!_" Lydia shrieked.

"What happened??" Gordon yelled. "Where'd he go??"

A bright white light seemed to explode from where Link had been standing. It spread like wildfire as everyone shielded their faces with their arms. 

Lydia squinted in the bright light. White everywhere. Nothing else could be seen. Suddenly, she couldn't feel the ground anymore. It felt like she was floating away in empty space. She was completely helpless. All she could do was cry out.

"Gordon! Zelda!! _Link!!_"

All she heard was Zelda's screams as she flew farther and farther away. Ganondorf's demonic laughing echoed loudly in the distance. Then all that came was silence......

***

Lydia slowly opened her eyes again. She smelled fresh, green grass and felt the crisp morning breeze blowing through her hair. 

She found herself down on her stomach, surrounded by grass. As she looked around, she recognized the scenery. She saw her climbing tree, and then the kid neighbor's house. Then she recognized her own little blue house.

"What??" she asked herself, and sat up. She saw Gordon down next to her, who was also just coming out of it. He opened his eyes and looked around, then fixed his eyes on her.

"What happened?" he asked lazily.

"Gordon....," Lydia replied with panic in her voice, "Look.... We're home!"

He looked around them and his eyes also showed panic and confusion. "Wh..what happened?" he wondered. "It couldn't have been a crazy _dream_, could it?"

Was it? Lydia asked herself. She quickly reached in her pocket. When she took her hand out, it now held the Sorcerer's Rune. 

"No..." Lydia said. "It was real."

"Then what happened?? Why are we back home?? What about Ganondorf? What about Hyrule?"

Lydia jumped up as panic reappeared on her face. "How did we get back here?" she yelled into the sky. "What happened in Hyrule? What happened to Zelda? What happened to Link?? _What's going on here!!!???_"

  
End Part I**  
  
**The evil Ganondorf has free reign of the land of Hyrule.  
As the land slowly wears away as Ganondorf works his evil, a hero rises. And with the help of his trusted friends from a far away land, he must liberate the land of Hyrule and restore peace once more.  
It's a quest that seems impossible to win, but where there is a will, there is a way.**  
**The story continues with…

Worlds Apart – Part II


End file.
